Tragedy
by circxe
Summary: [Act II] "and so the world will end with bleeding gods. ichor flows as gold as stars." The dust settled on top of them like remnants of a forgotten age while poison seeped through their veins. Ghosts and demons come out to play, dancing under a shattered moon of scorched stars. For when the past catches up to you, there is no where else to run. [Minho/OC]
1. ALCESTIS

**ACT II SCENE I  
ALCESTIS**

* * *

 _Those whom the Gods wish to destroy,_  
 _they first make mad._

* * *

 **EVERYTHING STARTED TO BLUR TOGETHER-** her memories, dreams and reality. She couldn't tell them apart anymore and her body shivered uncontrollably as she was locked in a never-ending nightmare of screams and blood and atrophy. Cold empty eyes staring back at her, stained with misery. There was an instant where she could hear Teresa calling out to her, voice tinged with fear, like when Alby stepped away from the circle.

" _Cass? Do you hear that?_ "

She heard the rush of roars and shrieks, the drumming of her heart in her chest as steel bit against steel in a rising crescendo, like a living chorus of malevolence inside her head. The tumultuous screams of boys that she knew- dying, never to see another day or laugh at another joke ever again.

" _Cass, wake up! There are people!_ "

There was a low drone, and she thought she might have opened her eyes. She didn't understand what was happening when her body was pulled from the top bunk and carried away. Teresa called to her frantically, but all she could think of was how Lee had been so close to escaping with them, if only she had been one second quicker.

It felt like she was passing through ice, then there was a bright light above her and she was sat down on a hard chair. Something heavy covered the top of her head a moment later and she felt a prick on her skin. Her dazed, fevered eyes slid to the side and there was a girl she didn't recognise talking to her.

"It's going to be okay," she said. "You'll feel better in the morning."

Then Teresa was yelling in her mind, through the haze that was enveloping her and a pain shot through her skull just as something cold brushed against the insides of her ears.

" _They're taking me away! What are they doing to you? Help!_ "

And then oblivion.

* * *

 _She had grown accustomed to it, the jarring surreal perception of her dreams, like she was looking at herself as an outsider- a ghost. The girl was young, no more than seven years of age and barely on the cusp of life._

 _There was a boy beside her, around the same age, scribbling on a piece of paper with a green crayon. He was colouring in a dinosaur, poorly, in big circles that went out of the lines. The room was medium in size, filled with playthings and a soft furry carpet that tickled under the feet. Behind them was a glass door that opened out to a beautiful garden with vibrant spring blossoms._

 _A beautiful woman in a white dress came over, her dark hair pulled back in a low ponytail. There was a beauty mark on her left cheek, her skin glowed a creamy peach and full lips glimmered with pink gloss. Her brown eyes crinkled slightly at the edges as she beamed widely at the two children, looking between the both of them fondly._

 _"Soyun, do you like it here that much?" she asked, her sweet voice carrying in the warm air._

 _"Yeah, I'm learning how to cook," the little girl held up a small plastic toast and sunny side up egg._

 _Her mother laughed, like the sound of tinkling bells. "Do you want to stay here then?"_

 _"I wanna stay here forever!" she grinned, eyes lighting up at the very idea._

 _"Did you ask if it was okay?"_

 _"It's okay," the boy said nonchalantly. "I'm gonna marry her when we grow up."_

 _"We're gonna own a big house and I'll cook ramen everyday and we'll have a pet dog named Rex!"_

The dream faded into twilight and Cassandra felt her heart shuddering with unshed tears.

* * *

It was like all the colour had drained out of her life, bleeding away into a dull monotonous grey. She was cocooned in something warm, but her insides were cold. Empty. There was a gaping hole in her chest that kept eroding with each passing minute, and she was sure that she would be nothing more than dust soon. Remnants of a paltry, inconsequential existence whisked away by a vacuous zephyr.

Then someone called to her, a familiar voice that was gently soothing, wrapping around her like a bandage to keep her from falling apart. A warm hand smoothed away the hair from her face, stray tendrils tickling the tip of her nose and she stirred back to life. Her eyes opened a fraction, and there was brightness on the other side. His voice continued to coax her to consciousness, and she followed it like Ariadne's thread through the treacherous shadows.

Cassandra opened her eyes to a burst of colour that was so intense, it made her nerves tingle. Minho smiled back at her, dimples in his cheeks and utter joy in his eyes.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hey back," she replied languidly.

Then she heard chatter around her and slowly pushed herself up; all the Gladers had gathered into their room. Newt grinned at her from the side, his brown eyes sparkling light-heartedly under the fluorescent light.

"Mornin', Sleeping Beauty," he greeted. "Bout time ya joined us in the real world."

"What the hell are you all doin' in here?" she asked while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Hey, she's speaking again," Thomas said. "Told you, all she needed was some rest."

"Huh?" she scrunched her face and looked at him in confusion.

"Uh..." the three boys exchanged wary glances, then he continued slowly. "You went into shock... after everything that happened yesterday."

"What happened?" she blinked and there were more blank stares. "And where's Teresa?"

As if on cue, there was an audible click from the direction of the bathroom and Thomas quickly started forward in anticipation. The door was pulled wide open but instead of seeing her blue-eyed friend, a strange boy stepped out. He had short dark hair and tanned skin, wearing the same pyjamas that they'd been given the night before. Archie dropped his watch onto the floor opposite her. She stared in shock, as did everyone else, and the world came to a complete stand still.

Then Thomas exploded. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Who am I?" the boy asked indignantly. "Who are you?"

Newt stepped forward to stand beside Thomas. "Don't bloody mess around. There are a lot more of us than there are of you, if you hadn't noticed."

The boy scowled and folded his arms. "Fine. I'm Aris. What else you wanna know?"

"Where was the other girl that was sleeping here last night? And how did you get here?" Thomas demanded.

"What other girl? I was the only one sleeping in this room," Aris shot him a weird look.

"Uh, dude, I've been here the entire time," Cassandra raised her hand from the top bunk.

The boy staggered, taken aback by her presence. "W-what?"

"There's a sign outside that says Teresa Agnes. No mention of any shank named Aris," Thomas jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Now tell us how you got here."

"L-Look man, I have no idea what's going on," he held his hands up and looked at them in bewilderment, all his previous bluster fading away. "I've been sleeping in that bottom bunk and got up to pee like five minutes ago. I've never heard of a Teresa Agnes in my life. Sorry."

Cassandra exchanged glances with Minho beside her, the both of them had their eyebrows raised in question. The mystery boy didn't sound like he was lying, but it didn't make any sense. How and why was he even there in that very room with them? She started to grow worried for Teresa, a million possibilities fighting for dominance in her mind, all of them horrible and unpleasant.

Newt crossed his arms and eyed the boy warily. "Okay, whatever, how did you get here then?"

"I don't even know, man," Aris shook his head like he knew what he was saying sounded ludicrous. "A bunch of people with guns rescued us, told us everything was going to be okay."

"Rescued you from what?" Thomas frowned with a look of concentrated perturbation on his face.

Aris slumped his shoulders and looked at the ground, sadness suddenly overtaking him. The change in his demeanour took them all by surprise, then he lifted his head with a sigh and answered.

"From the Maze, man. From the Maze."

"What... the hell," Cassandra commented from her perch, echoing the sentiments of the rest of the Gladers in the room.

"Same," Minho said.

She reached out with her mind for Teresa, but there was nothing; just more blanks and questions. " _Can_ _you_ _feel_ _her?_ " she asked Thomas, desperate for an answer.

" _No..._ _it's_ _like_ _she_ _got_ _disconnected_ _or_ _something,_ " he replied and her heart sank.

"Okay, this is really bloody weird. Maybe we should sit down and talk about this," Newt suggested.

"No!" Thomas looked at him with wide eyes. "We need to find Teresa! There must be another room some-"

"There isn't," Winston cut him off. "We checked the place earlier, there's only our room, the common room and this room. The doors we came from the bus are locked with chains. And there are no other exits."

"But... what about last night?" he asked, flustered. "Where'd the food come from? Isn't there a kitchen? Other rooms, something?"

The Slicer shook his head. "Nothin'."

"Maybe there's a hidden door," Newt shrugged. "We can only do one thing at a time, let's just-"

"No!" Thomas shouted this time, panic evident in his tone. "We need to find her!"

He dashed out of the room before anyone could stop him. Minho turned to Cassandra then with a slight frown on his face, looking at her curiously like he couldn't figure out whether she was tangible or not. She stared back into his warm brown eyes and felt her heart flutter naturally.

"You were with Teresa, you didn't notice her switching places with this weird shank?" he asked gently while taking her hand.

"I..." she started hesitantly. "I don't remember anything."

"What do you mean?" Newt frowned. "Nothing, like when you come up the Box nothing?"

"I remember... a summary," she said, looking down before turning her gaze back to Minho. "I know what happened yesterday, but... I don't know the details. Like I wasn't actually there, that someone just told me what happened."

Her hands started to tremble and he glanced down at them. She closed her fingers tightly over his to stop the tremors, but his frown deepened for the briefest second.

"The last thing I remember clearly was saying good night to Teresa and falling asleep. But not everything before that since we all ran into the Maze."

Minho looked back at her, brows pulled together with worry. She looked back at him with inquisitive eyes, trying to find an answer on his face. There was something strange afoot, but she had no idea what it was; her memory was all fuzzy and for some reason, she felt buoyant- as if she didn't have a care in the world.

"What happened?" she asked in a whisper, her expression almost childlike.

He squeezed her hand and shook his head slowly. "It's better that you don't know."

Cassandra blinked, not expecting his answer. Why would he say that?

"I have no bloody clue what's goin' on here," Newt declared. "But let's just get those buggin' beds down so we can all get comfy, okay?"

Everyone nodded and busied themselves with the task of unhooking the top bunks. Cassandra climbed down hers then helped Minho and a couple of other boys to get the bed down to the ground. They settled themselves, everyone facing each other in a circle and Thomas came back a moment later looking forlorn.

Minho patted the empty spot on his left. "Told ya, dude. Have a seat and let's talk. We waited on you. But close that shuck door first- the smell's worse than Gally's rottin' feet."

The boy did as he was told and Newt started, leaning literally on the edge of his bed. "Okay, let's get to the bloody storytellin' and then to the real problem- findin' somethin' to eat."

"I was okay until you mentioned it," Cassandra grumbled.

"So talk, Aris, tell us what you know," Minho nodded his head in the boy's direction.

"No way," he retorted. "You go first."

"Oh, yeah?" Minho raised an eyebrow. "How 'bout we all take turns beating the living klunk outta your face? Then we'll ask you to talk again."

"Minho," Newt said sternly. "There's no reason-"

"Please, dude. We don't know anythin' about him- he could be one of the Creators, or part of WICKED or whatever, here to spy on us. I'm sick of him acting all snooty when we got twenty guys on one him."

Cassandra cleared her throat.

"Plus Cassie," he added and she smiled.

Newt sighed and closed his eyes. "He's got a point. Just tell us what you meant about coming from the buggin' Maze. That's where we came from and we obviously never met you."

Aris rubbed his eyes tiredly before explaining from the beginning; that he'd been thrown into a Maze with no memory but his name with a big group of girls. It was all eerily familiar to them with only very subtle differences here and there. Apparently, their group had escaped a few days ago and were kept in some kind of gym. Aris was then separated for being the only boy, and the next thing he knew was that he had ended up with them.

Newt started to bombard him with an array of questions. "You lived in a big maze, on a farm, with walls that closed every night? Just you and a few dozen girls? Were there creatures called Grievers? Were you the last one to arrive? And did everything go buggin' nuts when you did? Did you come in a coma? With a note that said you were the last one ever?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Aris' eyes bugged out. "How do you know all this? How..."

"It's the same shuck experiment," Minho leaned back in consternation. "But they had all girls and one boy while we had all boys and one girl."

"Wait," Cassandra spoke up. "There wasn't another boy?"

"No, I was the only one. Why do you have two girls?" Aris asked.

Minho glanced at her with another concerned frown. "She's special. I guess."

She stared with confusion painted all over her face. None of this made any sense, and she started to question her own existence. Everyone had been paired off, it seemed, as if they were mirror images of each another but why break that symmetry with her?

"Did they call you the Trigger?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah."

"And were you... able to speak telepathically with one of the girls there?"

Aris turned to scrutinise him closely with narrowed eyes, then as if she was a radio picking up random airwaves, she heard his voice in her head but it wasn't directed to her. She didn't remember that kind of voodoo ever happening before in the Glade and it made her hair stand on end.

" _Can you hear me?_ "

There was a pause before Aris repeated himself.

" _Yes,_ " Thomas finally replied.

" _They killed her. They killed my best friend._ " A chilling wave cascaded down her back and she turned to look at Thomas in alarm. The boy noticed and glanced in her direction, then she heard him speaking to her.

" _Cass? Can you hear him too?_ "

She swallowed, not sure whether she should respond. Aris' eyes turned towards her as well and she couldn't help but stare back dumbly like a deer caught in headlights.

" _Wait, she can communicate to the both of us at the same time?_ "

" _Yeah, seems like it magnifies whenever she's around, becomes clearer._ "

" _I can feel the difference. She's not replying though._ "

" _I don't want to,_ " she snapped back and felt the connection break.

"Why are the three of you looking at each other like a freakin' love triangle?" Newt asked, a hint of amusement in his tone.

"Yo, back off, man," Minho wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "Don't talk in her head. Either of you!"

"Great, not another one," Frypan rolled his eyes.

Thomas covered his face incredulously with a hand, then lowered it and turned back to Aris. "Who killed her? What happened?"

"Who killed who?" Minho demanded. "What did they say to you?"

"Aris is like the male version of Teresa," Cassandra pointed. "So who's the female version of Thomas?"

"Her name was Rachel," Aris told them. "They made this girl, Beth... stab... her. She's dead, man. She's dead."

He bent over and buried his face in both hands, like the grief was just too much for him to bear, and his body shuddered briefly. But Newt wasn't done with him yet, continuing to fire questions about the group of girls. The boy looked up, wiping tears from his eyes and she felt a small pang in her heart for him.

"Thirty of us made it out," he told them. "Then they brought us to that gym, fed us, cleaned us up. After that, they brought me here, saying that I should be separate cause I'm a guy. Then you sticks show up."

"Sticks?" Minho grinned crookedly and exchanged an amused glance with Cassandra.

"Hey," Frankie suddenly called out. "What's that on your neck? Something black, right below your collar."

Everyone's eyes swivelled in the direction the boy had pointed to and Cassandra could see what he was talking about. It looked like a string of letters etched onto his skin, snaking from his collarbone to his back.

"Let me have a look," Newt offered and walked over to pull the boy's collar down. He examined it before confirming that it was a tattoo.

"What's it say?" Minho asked curiously.

But Newt didn't answer, he just continued staring at the inked marking. Then Cassandra, Minho and Thomas stood up and went over to take a look for themselves. She couldn't believe her eyes when she scanned the small black print.

It read: _Property of WICKED. Group B, Subject B1. The Partner._

"What is that supposed to mean?" Minho asked cautiously.

"What's it say?" Aris asked, frowning as he reached up to touch it. "I swear it wasn't there last night! I've never had a tattoo!"

Newt repeated it to him before pondering. "Property of WICKED? I thought we escaped from 'em. Whatever." He turned back around, clearly irritated, and sat back down.

"And why would it call you the Partner?" Minho put his hands on his hips, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"I don't know," Aris shook his head. "I swear it wasn't there last night. I showered, looked in the mirror. I would've seen it and someone would have noticed in the Maze for sure."

"You telling me they tattooed you in the middle of the night without you noticing?" Minho asked sceptically. "Come on, dude."

"I swear!" the other boy cried, then ran towards the bathroom, presumably to check for himself.

"I don't believe a shuck word he says," Minho said as they returned to their seats. Thomas suddenly cried out loud and pointed at him, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. "M-M-Minho- oh, my- what-"

"What, dude?" Minho looked at him weirdly.

"You have it too! On your neck!" he continued to point in disbelief.

Cassandra turned him around and ripped the collar of his shirt down to look. In the same black capitals, she read out loud. "Property of WICKED. Group A, Subject A7. The Leader."

"What the shuck?! Cassie!" it was Minho's turn to cry out loud as he pulled down her own collar. "Subject C. The Tragedy."

They exchanged a knowing look as they tried to decipher its meaning. WICKED must think they're so clever with the references they made.

The other Gladers had gotten up and came over to take a closer look, then there was a frenzy as everyone started to inspect each other. Cassandra's eyes flicked towards Thomas and she reached over, grabbing hold of his shirt and pulling down. All the tattoos were similar; stating their individual numbers and titles, except some of the other boys didn't have a title.

Her face fell when she read Thomas' and he seemed to have noticed. "What? What does mine say?"

She ignored him and went to pull Newt's shirt. "What's mine?" the blonde asked.

"A5. The Glue," she told him.

"The Glue?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe cause you're the glue that holds us all together," Thomas quipped. "Cass, what does mine say?"

She turned away, going back to Minho and pretending to look at his tattoo again but pressed her lips against his neck instead. He held her around the waist, as Thomas' voice grew serious. "What does mine say?"

Newt walked over and pulled his collar down with a finger and his reaction was similar to hers. Thomas repeated himself one more time before the older boy finally told him. "A2. To be killed by Group B."

Then a bell clanged loudly all around them.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE** **:**

And we're bacckkk!

As per usual, please leave a review! I love to hear from you and it makes my day all bright with sunshine and flowers and fuzzy warm feelings xx


	2. MEDEA

**ACT II SCENE II**  
 **MEDEA**

* * *

 **SHE RECOGNISED THE ALARM;** it was the exact same one that announced when a new Greenie would come up in the Glade. Except it was louder and more annoying, especially since they were stuck in a tiny room. Everyone walked around with their hands pressed against their ears in an attempt to block the noise out, some just sat down on the beds to wait it out.

"What the hell is going on?!" Cassandra shouted.

Newt grabbed Thomas' arm. "It's the bloody Newbie alarm!"

"I know!" the boy yelled back.

"Why's it ringing?!"

"I don't know!"

"Well, make it stop!" Minho yelled back, annoyed.

The incessant blaring continued on for the next few minutes and Cassandra sat down. She felt like her brain was starting to melt out of her ears. Frypan started for the door but Thomas stopped him.

"Wait! It's an alarm, maybe something bad happened!"

"Yeah, and maybe we need to get outta here!" Frypan retorted then pushed the door.

But it refused to budge so the boy threw his entire weight against it with the exact same result. He turned back to Thomas and yelled accusingly, slapping at the stubborn slab of wood. "You broke the shuck handle! Now it's stuck!"

Minho came over and planted himself down next to her as they waited, then after what seemed like forever, it finally stopped and they lowered their hands. Her ears buzzed and she clapped them close again, wincing from the sharp throb in her eardrums. The pain was almost excruciating.

"I hope we're not getting thrown bloody Newbies on our laps," Newt said dryly.

"Where's the Box in this shuck place?" Minho rolled his eyes.

The door suddenly creaked open, spooking the hell out of Cassandra, and Frypan took a step back as they peered through the crack. It was pitch dark on the other side; someone had turned off the lights. She was glad that they were, since she was told that the people who had saved them were strung up out there by their necks and she _really_ didn't need to see that.

"Guessin' they want us to go out there now," Minho said.

"Be my guest," Frypan gestured.

"Ladies first?" he turned to her, smirking widely.

She rolled her eyes and stood up even though she knew he was joking. He got up after her and they both made their way to the door. She really didn't want to go out there though.

"Maybe we'll have a new little shank to kick in the butt when we're bored," Minho snickered, then his voice suddenly went soft. "We could use another Chuck..."

"Are you guys going or do you need me to go first?" Thomas asked irritably when they continued to linger in the room.

"And what did your tattoo say?" Minho shot him a look.

"Doesn't matter. Let's go out there." Cassandra looked at him, remembering the disoriented and scared boy she had punched in the head, and smirked. She guessed he grew a pair since then.

"Good that, if zombies start eatin' my leg, save me," Minho snickered again.

"Yeah, you do that, I'm not gonna stick around," Cassandra said in jest.

"Deal," Thomas nodded.

Then Minho pushed the door open and stepped through into the shrouded darkness. She followed after him, with Thomas right on her heels. They paused just outside, the light from the room behind them barely penetrating through the sea of ink ahead of them.

"Hold on, no need to play bumper cars with the dead folk again," Minho said. "Let me find the switches first."

"Why would they even switch the lights off anyway?" Thomas remarked.

Minho turned around and smirked whimsically at him. "Why do you even bother asking questions, dude? Nothin' has ever made sense and it never will. Now slim it and sit still."

Then he disappeared into the shadows and they could only hear the sound of his hand sliding along the wall on the right until he cried out. The lights started to flicker back to life, and Cassandra prepared herself for the grotesque scene in front of her.

But there was nothing; the room was empty just like how it was supposed to be.

Minho blinked once, then twice, and then his face twisted in an expression of confusion. "What the shuck?" he asked no one in particular. Then Newt nudged past her hastily, limping into the common room and turning around in more puzzled bewilderment.

"This is bloody impossible," he declared. "That wasn't nearly enough time to get 'em all down. And we would have heard if someone came in."

"Maybe it's freakin' magic," Cassandra snorted.

"He's right, though, we were in there for like- what? Twenty minutes?" Minho looked up. "Plus the doors are locked from the inside."

"Not to mention getting rid of the smell," Thomas said, leaning against the wall as if he just got the wind knocked out of him.

"Magic, I'm tellin' ya."

"I'm actually gonna shucking agree with Cass," Frypan said as he and the rest of the Gladers filed in.

"Hey," Winston pointed. "The crazies are gone too."

Everyone started towards the boys' dormitory and she followed out of curiosity. Minho was the first to reach the door. "No way!" he exclaimed loudly and ducked inside. Winston reached second and he hesitated, staring mutely into the room with narrowed eyes. The others followed suit and she finally peered through with a blink. Minho was turning in a slow circle in the middle, his eyes wide as he took in the red brick walls erected outside every barred window.

She stepped inside and gaped, then the Gladers slowly followed after them. Cassandra went over to a window and tapped her nail against the brick, feeling that it was real, then taking a step back to stare at it in dumb shock.

"Okay, even if they were quick with the bodies," Newt started. "No way in hell they'd been able to throw up brick walls. What the shuck is goin' on here?"

Minho came up to her side and pressed his palm against the wall as well. "Solid," he confirmed, then slapped it. He glared at it as if he was commanding them to tell him how they got there.

"It doesn't even look fresh, the mortar's dry," Thomas inspected. "Somehow they've tricked us, has to be."

"Tricked us?" Frypan repeated. "How?"

He shrugged. "Remember the Cliff? Jumping into thin air? Must be something like that."

They found neat stacks of fresh clothes and new digital watches for them in the dresser. The beds had all been made too and the furniture looked like it'd been rearranged slightly. Minho and Cassandra wandered out to look around for more clues. She examined the wall next to the boys' dorm where a plaque now hung that read Aris' name and title.

Then Minho pointed at the one that had been outside the girls' dorm. Teresa's name was gone, replaced by hers.

 **Cassandra, Subject C**  
 **The Tragedy**

It gave her the chills.

Thomas came over to check it out, and she saw the sadness in his eyes that Teresa was gone, then he went back to the boys' dorm. With not much else to do, she ran her hand along the wall in the vain hope that there was some kind of hidden exit. Then the voodoo radio in her head started up again, she could faintly hear Thomas calling out for Teresa incessantly. Shaking her head with exasperation, she continued with her previous ministrations as his voice faded from her mind.

Then a voice erupted inside her head with the force of a mini explosion, sending her to a jolting halt.

" _Get out of my head!_ "

" _Teresa?_ "

" _Whoever you are, get out of my shuck head!_ "

She had no idea what the hell was happening and it was freaking her out. The voice certainly sounded like Teresa, but none of it made any sense.

" _Teresa? What are you talking about? It's me, Thomas. Where are you?_ "

" _Shut up! Just shut up! I don't know who you are! Leave me alone!_ "

" _But,_ " there was hurt and loss in his voice. " _Teresa, what's wrong?_ "

There was a pause, then Teresa's voice growled back. " _Leave me alone or I'll hunt you down and cut your throat. I swear it._ "

Her eyes grew wide at what she'd just heard, goosebumps rising all over her arms. Teresa would never say something like that, especially to Thomas. This wasn't right; something really unnatural was going on. She turned around and headed towards the dorm, finding Thomas lying on the bed sobbing. He noticed her and looked up with a deep sadness in his red teary eyes.

" _I don't know what happened, but I'm sorry_ ," she told him and left.

* * *

It had become extremely evident that they were trapped in there. There was no magic exit hidden in the walls or floor, or even the ceiling; everything was sealed up tight. Out of sheer desperation, they had tried to find a way to break the locks that held the chains to the main exit but they seemed to be reinforced by titanium.

There was also no food and their empty stomachs started to protest one after the other.

The boys' dorm had exactly twenty beds, so Cassandra kicked Aris out to replace him with Minho. The other boys grumbled a little but they all knew it would have been inevitable. At least there was air-conditioning, so they were able to relax somewhat despite the gnawing ache in their bellies.

Everyone was still dressed in their pyjamas, finding no reason to change into the new clothes that looked like they were meant to withstand resistances from the outdoors. It felt like some kind of prelude, and they all had sneaking suspicions that their journey hadn't come to an end like they had hoped.

Minho flopped down on a bed next to the door and watched her as she darted around the room, looking through every nook and cranny, crawling under the beds to check underneath them.

"Teresa isn't hiding under there, you know," he told her and she snapped her head up, only to knock against the metal bar of one of the disassembled top bunks. She yelped and then whined in pain as she grasped her head with both hands.

"Cassie!" Minho cried through a snort of laughter. "Are you okay?"

"I am not okay!" she yelled, tears pricking at her eyes. "Stop laughing! So not cool!"

"Cassie, come here," he beckoned as she stood back up, rubbing the sore spot on her crown. "C'mere, babe."

She glared at him unhappily before trudging over and dropping down next to him on the mattress. He sat up and enveloped her in a tight hug, kissing her head where it hurt.

"Better?" he smirked at her.

"No," she retorted sullenly.

He caressed his face against her neck, planting his lips gently on the hollow of her collarbone. Her lips twitched upwards at the side briefly but she continued to hold her discontented expression.

"Better?" he asked again, his voice a low rumble.

She felt her skin rise in anticipation and bit her bottom lip as his hands slowly snaked along her waist. Cassandra averted her eyes away from him, and sniffed placidly.

"No," she said but her surly tone had disappeared.

Minho chuckled slyly as his cold fingers sneaked under her shirt to touch her warm body. His tongue darted over her earlobe and she took in a sharp breath, filling her lungs with a rush of exhilaration.

"Now?" he breathed into her ear.

She shook her head, not trusting her voice to refrain from uttering something entirely different than what she intended. Cassandra could feel his smirk grow wider as he dragged his lips down the line of her jaw. He paused and peered up at her expectantly. Her heart quivered as she gave her head a small shake from side to side.

Then he pulled her down, pinning her beneath him on the bed, and she couldn't help but giggle at the barrage of kisses he made across her throat and face. Minho hovered over her as he relished the sight of her; hair tousled over the white sheets, eyes dancing with euphoria and small red splotches on her skin from his previous onslaught.

"What about now?" he grinned widely.

She made her face fall and stuck her lip out in a petulant manner. "Not really," she said with an appealing tone.

Minho swooped down on her, capturing her small lips in a display of fervent ardour. Her hands clung to the back of his shirt as she arched her back, drawing herself closer to him. She smiled exuberantly as she tasted him, drinking him in with intoxicated zeal.

"I've been wanting to do that _all_ day," he groaned, rubbing the tip of his nose on hers.

Cassandra ran her hands through his short black hair and sighed contentedly as she gazed back into his burnished brown eyes. "Me too," she crooned, kissing him once more. With Minho in her arms, there was absolutely nothing for her to worry about and she pushed him to the side, rolling on top so that it was her turn to entice him.

* * *

The hunger was all encompassing.

Their stomachs growled for the hundredth time as they lied next to each other on the bed, her back pressed against his front and his arms wrapped tightly around her middle. She was pretty sure that more than forty hours had passed since they woke up trapped in that strange place without any sustenance. Minho pulled her small frame closer to him and rested his chin over her shoulder, she could feel her ribs pressing against his arm.

Cassandra had fallen asleep when there was a loud bang outside and she started, blinking blearily at the opposite wall. It must be one of the boys trying desperately to find a way out again. She rubbed her eyes and made a small moaning sound, then her hand went up to caress Minho's face. He kissed her cheek and saw her smile languorously.

"Good morning," he whispered.

"I'm pretty sure it's the middle of the night, Minho," she chuckled and glanced at her watch. "It's like three in the morning."

"Still the morning," a slow grin spread across his face. "I missed you."

"I've been here the whole time," she laughed, craning her neck to give him a peck on the lips.

"But you were sleeping," he rubbed his cheek against hers. "I had to suffer on my own."

"You big baby," she joked, turning on her side so she was facing him properly, and she bit his chin. "I'm so hungry, I could probably eat you whole."

"Cassie, there's only one way I want you to eat me and it's not the way you're thinking of," he told her candidly.

"God, you're so impossible," she buried her face in the pillow to hide her sudden flush. He pulled her closer again and hugged her tightly.

"Wonder when the damn shanks are gonna let us out of this dump," he said.

She asked herself the same question every hour and felt a sort of apprehension at the thought. It was obvious by now that WICKED still had them under their thumb, and that this must be the grand plan that Thomas had mentioned before back in the Glade. Whatever it was that waited for them out of this room, it was going to be bad, and starving was only the beginning of their tribulations.

Then her thoughts went back to Teresa, one of the people she genuinely thought of as a friend. Why had she said those things to Thomas? Where was she? What happened to her?

Minho stroked her face with a hand and she turned her attention back to him. He had a look of concern on his face, and she could see that he was trying his best to hide it, but it showed clearly in his eyes.

"Are you thinking of Teresa again?" he gave her a knowing look.

"Are you sure you don't have telepathy?" she smiled wanly and sighed. "I'm so worried about her."

She told him about the telepathic conversation she had somehow overheard between Thomas and Teresa. He frowned, unable to suppress his ever-growing unease and his hand smoothed her hair against her face as he peered back at her grimly.

"You really don't remember what happened?" he asked.

Cassandra shook her head. "Not a thing. Are you still not going to tell me?"

He averted his gaze from her with a guarded expression. She was curious, wanting to know what it was that was so horrible that he refused to talk about.

"I think they did something to you," he finally said. "In the middle of the night, probably when they exchanged Teresa with Aris."

"How do you figure that?" she pulled her brows together.

He sighed and looked at her again with a quick flash of agony. "After what happened back in the Maze, when we were getting out of there... you weren't yourself. You wouldn't talk, not even to me, and I was-" He took a deep breath, as if the memory brought him physical pain. "Then the next morning, you woke up fine, saying that you didn't remember anything. It's not something you can just forget. They must have taken your memories again..."

He trailed off and silence laid between them after his brief explanation. Her eyes wandered from side to side as she considered the brevity of his words, and her voice trembled when she spoke.

"Was it... that bad?"

"Yes, Cassie," he kissed her, as if it would assuage both their fears. "Shuck, I hate to say this but... I actually think it was for the best."

It suddenly started to make more sense to her- the reason she felt so insouciant when she woke up that first day, and why she hadn't seen other familiar faces amongst the group of Gladers with them. She had just assumed that they'd been separated but...

"Not even Chuck?" she gasped. "Or Lee? What happened to Alby?"

Minho quickly grabbed her into a tight hold, cradling her head against his shoulder as she stared with wide-eyed horror at the cold realisation. He whispered in her ear to forget about it, but she continued to be fully aware of the situation.

None of them had made it.


	3. HIPPOLYTUS

**ACT II SCENE III**  
 **HIPPOLYTUS**

* * *

 **IGNORANCE WAS BLISS.**

She remembered the phrase from the chaotic disharmony of her recollections. Minho was right; it was probably for the best that WICKED had wiped her memory of those events from her mind, especially when she felt such profound sadness at just knowing about their loss.

An hour had probably passed by since she woke in the dark, clutching her acerbic stomach as the gnawing hunger grew with each passing second. Her fingers gripped the sheets tightly and she tensed her entire body immobile so she wouldn't accidentally wake Minho up. Cassandra shut her eyes tight and sucked her belly to her back as she waited for the pain to drift away- or until her body became desensitised to it.

After what felt like the most agonising twenty minutes of her life, she slowly relaxed once more and breathed easier. Minho continued to sleep beside her and she glanced at his tranquil face. Her mouth was parched though, and the only way to the nearest water supply was by passing over him. She slowly untangled herself from his heavy limbs and clambered over his body.

Then his arms encased her and she almost fell on top of him as he murmured her name. She was almost overcome by the urge to nestle back down with him but she needed to drink. Placing a soft kiss on the corner of his lips, she whispered to be right back and finally made her descent from the bed.

The dull concrete floor felt cold against her bare feet as she flitted across the room towards the sink. She turned the tap and a rush of cool water flowed out from the faucet as she cupped her hands over it then bent down to take a sip. There was a moment where the lights flickered above her and she blinked, thinking that she'd imagined it.

Once she had her fill, she closed the tap and walked out of the bathroom just as the lights flickered again behind her. She whirled around, certain that she had seen it happened then, when suddenly there was a loud hum coming from the direction of the common room.

Her heart skipped a beat, wondering whether it could just be the boys up to something again. Cassandra started towards the door, her footsteps muted against the coarse ground and she quietly pulled down on the handle. A slither of light crept into the oval room as she peeked through the crack. It was too dark for her to see anything other than shapes shrouded in shadows and she opened the door wider to shed more light.

There was a man; in a white suit, sitting with his feet up at a table on a reclining chair and reading a book.

She blinked a couple of times and rubbed her eyes as she continued to stare at him with disbelief. She must be dreaming, there was no way this could be real. His dark hair was greying on the sides, stubble littering the lower half of his face. He looked up at her with dark narrow eyes, as impassively as was humanly possible, and his lips turned in a mendacious smile.

"Ah, I thought you would be the first," he said in hushed tone. "Here, have something to eat. You must be ravenous."

Her jaw dropped at his audacity and she was about to yell at him angrily when he gestured to the front. "We brought plenty," he added and she was momentarily distracted as she turned to look at where he was gesturing his hand. Her face fell as she gaped at what she saw next.

A mountain of fruits and granola bars sat on top of the tables that were pushed towards the back of the room. She started forwards automatically then stopped herself and glanced back towards the strange man uncertainly.

"Don't worry, they're real alright," he chuckled, his voice a pale cadaverous thing. "They're not poisoned too."

She teetered on the balls of her feet before darting across the empty space between her and nourishment. The first thing her hand touched was an apple and she quickly took a rapacious bite, moaning in delight at the burst of flavour in her mouth.

Then she paused and turned back to the man again, who was watching her closely. His beady gaze held shrewd amusement as he rubbed his fingers together with calculative regard. Cassandra took a small step away, and then grabbed a granola bar before dashing back into her room.

"Minho!" she jumped on top of him, shaking his shoulder excitedly. "Minho, wake up! C'mon, babe!"

He groaned despondently and turned his head to squint at her. "What is it?" he asked, voice ridiculously husky that she had to restrain herself.

She held her hands up in front of him instead and he stared at them.

"I can't see what you're holding," he tried to squint harder but only succeeded in closing his eyes again to fall back to sleep.

Cassandra sighed and unwrapped the granola bar then stuck it into his mouth. He froze in surprise before his tongue tasted the chewy honeyed oat and raisin snack. Then he shot up and grabbed the other end of the bar, chomping down with wide eyes.

"Cassie," he swallowed and whispered in awe. "Where did you get this?"

"There's more outside," she grinned at the expression of pure bliss on his face as he took another bite.

"C'mon," he kissed her on the lips and stood up but she grabbed hold of his shirt.

"Uh, wait..." her face tightened as he looked back at her questioningly. "There's uh... something... I mean- some _one_ else out there..."

"What?" Minho threw her a confused glance before turning back to the door and she saw the muscle in his jaw twitch. "You mean one of them?"

"I... think so..." she slowly got up from the bed, sliding her fingers around his middle. "He's pretty creepy."

"Okay, just stay close to me," he told her and she nodded, looking over his shoulder as she clung to him for extra protection.

They walked out into the common room and Minho paused right at the threshold, his eyes taking in the stockpile of food in the corner before swivelling towards the strange man who had gone back to his book with its blank cover. "That him?" he asked quietly and she replied in the affirmative. "What's he doing?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "He was talking to me earlier."

"Hey," Minho said loudly but the man was now wholly ignoring them. "I said hey, shuckface!"

The man moved, his hand reaching up to turn the page of his book, and Cassandra let go of Minho to take a better look at him. There was something weird about the square space where he was sitting in; and she realised that it was the only part of the room that was lit up when the ceiling lights were supposed to illuminate the entire area.

Minho started forwards angrily, his jaw set in a hard line and he rolled up his sleeves. "I'm talkin' to you!" he yelled, heading in the man's direction when he suddenly slammed his head against an invisible wall with a loud hollow thunk.

The boy staggered backwards, slapping a hand against his face and she darted towards him. "Minho, are you okay?" she cried, reaching him with concerned hands.

"The shuck was that?" he looked back at the man, who continued to act as if they didn't exist.

"Another magic wall," she replied, throwing a sceptical glance at it before turning back to him. The light from the blocked section shone on his face and she could see the angry red mark on his forehead. She touched it and his eye twitched- he must have hit it pretty hard. "Come on, let's just wake the others up," Cassandra started to pull him away. "That dude's a lost cause."

"He looks like a freakin' rat," he muttered crossly as he allowed her to guide him to the boys' dorm.

The rest of the Gladers were still fast asleep and she went towards Newt who was sleeping on a bottom bunk on the right. Minho switched the lights on and a couple of the boys started, grousing grumpily at the rude awakening.

"Newton," she called. "Hey, wake up."

The blonde roused weakly, blinking blearily in her direction and muttering unintelligibly under his breath. She reached up and jostled Winston's arm on the top bunk. "You too, Wins, all of you shanks get up."

"What is it?" Winston rolled onto his side and peered down at her, his voice thin from lack of energy.

"You need to see it to believe it," Minho told them as he pulled the door wide open. "And prepare yourselves."

Then he went back out into the common room and she could hear him rummaging through the assortment outside, plastic crinkling and things falling down to the floor with a dull thud. An apple suddenly soared through the air towards them, landing heavily on the floor and rolling to the middle of the room.

"The shuck is that?" Frypan asked, rubbing his eyes as he sat up and stared down at the piece of fruit as if it was a bomb.

Another apple flew inside, followed by a couple of granola bars, two oranges and a banana.

"Bloody hell, have I died or is it raining shucking fruit?" Newt asked after finally gathering his wits back.

Jack had jumped off his bunk and picked the apple up to take a large bite, the crunching of his teeth against its pulp resounding throughout the room. "It's real!" he exclaimed before devouring the entire thing in the next three seconds.

"Slow down, klunkhead, or you'll get sick!" someone else said from the back.

Cassandra's laugh cut through the air, snapping them out of their incredulous stupor. She then pulled on Newt's arm one more time and shot out of the room to return to Minho. He had another granola bar sticking out of his mouth and they threw more fruits into the room to lure the Gladers from their hole.

She took a bite from the other end of his granola bar and reached for a package wrapped in brown paper. Her nails tore through the material and she crumpled it up into a ball before opening the lid of a nondescript box full of cookies.

"Holy crap, chocolate chip cookies!" she announced loudly and took one.

Minho bit half of it and she threw the rest into her mouth. Frypan emerged from the room a second later, heading straight for the box of cookies. Winston came out after him, then Newt and the rest followed suit to attack the food with unbridled enthusiasm.

"Whoa, who the hell is that?!" Aris exclaimed and the others turned to look. Someone dropped a fruit onto the floor and they started gawking at the strange man that had escaped notice under their excitement.

The new boy walked over cautiously and just like Minho had before, collided with the invisible wall surrounding the man. He pressed his hands against the barrier and looked at it in bewilderment.

"What the feck?" he asked.

The man suddenly looked up from his book and Aris stumbled away from him in blind fright.

"Please stop doing that," he said patronisingly. "I suggest you replenish yourselves. There is still fifty-three minutes before I am allowed to implement Phase Two of the Trials."

"The shuck is a Phase Two?" Winston whispered and they shrugged in reply.

They watched as the man made himself comfortable and resumed his reading once again as if everything was completely normal. Cassandra raised an eyebrow and ate another cookie, then picked up a can of whip cream to coat on a strawberry.

"Hey, Tommy isn't awake yet?" Newt asked.

"Oh, yeah," she looked over her shoulder. "Wow, can't believe he's missing out on all this."

"I'll get him," Minho sighed and picked up a couple more apples. "Probably too out of it, dumb shank."

He turned around and headed back into the dorm. Cassandra picked up some more cookies and followed after him. They crouched by the bottom bunk where the boy was still flat out sleeping in, his blanket twisted around his legs and mouth hanging wide open. They exchanged amused smirks then Minho started calling him.

"Thomas. Thomas! Dude, get your butt up."

He placed an apple on the bed next to the boy's face just as he stirred back to consciousness. Thomas opened his eyes, staring blankly right in front of him before widening his eyes a fraction more.

"Where'd you..." he started feebly.

"Just eat it," Minho took a bite of his own apple.

Thomas pushed himself up with great difficulty and swiped the apple from the bed, taking a large bite for himself. He moaned, and gobbled the rest up in no time.

"Dude, slim it," Minho shook his head. "Eat like that and you'll throw it right back up. Here's another one- try slowing down this time."

He handed a second apple to the other boy, who grabbed it with greedy hands. Thomas munched appreciatively, taking great effort to pace himself this time. Cassandra offered him a cookie and he scarfed that down whole.

"This is so good," he said. "This is so shuckin' good."

"Yeah, you still sound like an idiot using Glader words," Minho remarked.

"Yeah, klunkhead, go back to school," she said, spraying some whip cream onto his face which he licked off with a finger. He had gotten way too used to their snarky comments by now to pay them any mind.

Cassandra painted more cream on Minho's lips with a grin and he merely beamed back as his tongue darted out to clean it.

"Where'd all these come from?" Thomas interrupted the couple.

"Magic," she whispered to him as if it was a secret.

He rolled his eyes. "Seriously."

"There's a whole lot more in the common room," Minho told him with a smirk, a smear of cream still on the corner of his lip. "Along with... something else."

"What something else?" Thomas questioned as he swung his legs off the bed.

"Have a look for yourself," the boy told him before taking a bite of Cassandra's cookie. She laughed at him and wiped his lip clean with a finger.

Thomas sighed, rolled his eyes and slowly made his way to the bathroom first. She glanced over her shoulder, making sure that he was a safe distance away before turning back and spraying more cream on Minho's lips. Then she leaned forwards and licked it off, giggling giddily. "Mm, you taste so sweet."

"Really? Let me have a taste too," he took her face with both hands and kissed her. She continued to giggle as his tongue danced across her lips.

"Oh, my God," Thomas groaned as he walked in on them. "I was away for like one minute, man, I can never unsee that."

He stomped across the room pass them and through the open door. Cassandra bent over, laughing so hard that it came out in wheezing breaths. Minho took her hand and, still guffawing about Thomas' reaction, pulled her up to stand then made their way back into the common area.

There was another hollow thunk as Thomas was the next victim to slam his face into the invisible wall. He stared at it and pressed both his palms against the barrier, gaping at its existence.

The man behind it sighed and looked up from his book. "How many times do I have to say this? There is still forty-three minutes left until I am allowed to implement Phase Two. Use the time you have to replenish yourselves, and I suggest you take advantage of it, young man."

Thomas turned back around to look at them in bewilderment and Minho smirked as he leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"Met our new friend?" he asked. "Real piece of work, isn't he? I gotta get me one of those shuck suits. Fancy stuff."

"I bet you'd look so handsome," Cassandra said with a straight face. "All clean and spiffed up like a dandy shank."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"Am I awake?" Thomas looked around with a muddled expression.

"You're awake," Minho proclaimed. "Now eat something, dude, you look like shuck. Almost as bad as Rat Man over there with his book."

The boy walked towards the tables and joined the rest with filling up their bellies. He gorged himself on everything his hands touched without pause.

"You need to slim it, man," Minho frowned as he watched. "We got shanks puking all over the place 'cause they ate too much. That's probably enough, dude."

Just as he finished talking, Frankie started retching in a corner into an empty bag and Cassandra snorted when Jack joined in. "It's like a freaking epidemic right here."

"Tell me about it," Minho rolled his eyes.

She caught sight of Aris as he wandered about the room, stomach full and waiting on what was going to happen next. Cassandra called for him, beckoning with a hand, and he trudged over almost reluctantly.

"You okay?" she asked and he eyed her questioningly. "Had enough to eat?"

"Yeah, I guess," he nodded. "I'm dying to know what this next Trial is all about though."

She hummed in assent and folded her arms, leaning against Minho's tough frame.

"What was it like in the other Maze?" she cocked her head to the side curiously. "Was it really exactly the same as ours?"

He shrugged. "I guess so. There was a farm, a house, a forest, everything surrounded by the Walls."

"Everyone had jobs? Keepers?" Minho asked.

"Uh, yeah, they had jobs," Aris replied. "I don't know what's a Keeper, but they had Mentors."

They exchanged a look with each other. "What did they call those who went out into the Maze?"

"Navigators," he answered. "Then there were the Architects, Cultivators, Dancers, Chefs, Ranchers, Healers and Scouts."

Minho gave him a baffled look but Cassandra was intrigued at the names. She started to wonder what her life might have been like if she had been placed in the girls' group instead.

"They sound so much cooler than the ones we had," she sniffed.

"That's cause you're a girl, Cassie," he told her. "They sound ridiculous to me. The hell is a Dancer? They put on pretty concerts and shuck in there?"

"Actually, yeah, once a week everyone gathers around for a show by the Dancers."

"Why didn't we have singing and dancing every week?" she pouted sadly.

"Cause we had more important stuff to do."

"That's what I told them but Eve said it was to boost morale," Aris said. "Then again she _was_ the Dance Mentor..."

Newt came over with a huge bag of nuts to share with them and laughed when Minho told him what they had found out about the girls' Maze. Then about half an hour later, once everyone had stopped stuffing their faces or throwing up, they gathered in front of the strange man and waited.


	4. SISYPHUS

**ACT II SCENE IV**  
 **SISYPHUS**

* * *

 **CASSANDRA SAT NEXT TO** Minho on the floor, holding his hand loosely in hers, with Thomas on her left and Newt on his other side. They stared at the man, willing him to start explaining himself with their eyes. Minho sighed impatiently.

"I think we've all gone psycho... like those, what'd they call themselves? Cranks. The Cranks at the windows," he scowled distastefully. "We're all sitting here like kids at school waiting for Rat Man to give us a lecture. I bet you we're not gonna like it- if he had anything good to say, he wouldn't need a freaking magic wall to protect him from us, would he?"

"That sounds gross, I don't wanna be a Crank," she twisted her face up in disgust.

"Just slim it, man," Newt whispered. "Maybe it'll all be over."

"Yeah, right," Minho retorted. "And Frypan's gonna start having babies, Winston'll get rid of his monster zits, and Thomas here'll actually smile for once."

The boy next to her turned and beamed a fake smile, eyes crinkling up. "Happy?"

"Dude. You are one ugly shank."

"The power of the lord compels you."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head, face dropping back to his usual sombre mask. Newt shushed them up again. "I think it's time."

They turned their attention back to the front where the man had placed his feet back down to the floor. He leaned back, pulled out a drawer and started rifling through it before picking out a messy folder.

"Ah," he intoned, then finally looked up at them. "Thank you for gathering in an orderly manner. Please listen carefully."

"Why do you need a wall?!" Minho yelled at him and Newt reached out to punch him.

"Shut it!" the blonde hissed.

Rat Man ignored them and continued. "You're all still here because you have an uncanny will to survive the odds, among... other reasons. About sixty people were sent to live in the Glade and another sixty in Group B. But for now, we'll forget about them."

His eyes flicked to Aris and Cassandra didn't like the way he did it. "Out of all those people, only a fraction has survived. I'm sure you know by now that everything that has happened to you is for the sole purpose of analysing your responses. And yet it's not much an experiment than we are... constructing a blueprint. Stimulating the Killzone and Point Zero to collect the resultant patterns, putting them together to achieve the biggest breakthrough of science and medicine."

She glanced at Minho, then to Thomas; they both had grim shadows on their faces. Whatever crazy breakthrough he was referring to, it still didn't change the fact that they had been used and manipulated like lab rats.

"These situations are called the Variables, each one meticulously thought out. I can't tell you everything, but it's vital that you know this much: these trials you're going through are for a very important cause. Continue to respond well to the Variables, continue to survive, and you'll be rewarded with the knowledge that you've played a part in saving the human race. And yourselves, of course."

"This dude's shucked in the head," Minho whispered. "How's escaping a Maze going to save the human race?"

She nodded; it sounded like a pile of klunk to her too. Save themselves? When so many of them had already died? The man was just asking for fiery retribution, which she would have gladly given him. She inhaled deeply, feeling that tight coil of anger in her chest starting to unravel once more.

"I represent a group called WICKED, it stands for World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department. Now, it may sound menacing but I assure you, we exist for one purpose alone: to save the world from catastrophe." Someone snorted loudly and Rat Man started boasting about how much money and resources they had, never seen before in the history of humankind.

"How much would it cost for me to break his shuck wall?" Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"It'd be priceless," Minho whispered back and they snickered together.

"If I can tell you one thing today, it's that you should never believe your eyes. Or your minds, for that matter. All I will say is that sometimes, what you see may not be real and what you do not see is real. We can manipulate your brains and nerve receptacles when necessary."

She felt her patience wearing thin, all she wanted to do was to punch the guy in the face. See whether that was real or not.

"The Maze was part of the Trials. Not one Variable was thrown at you that didn't serve a purpose for our collection of Killzone patterns. Your escape was part of the Trials. Your battle against the Grievers. The murder of the boy Chuck. The supposed rescue and subsequent bus ride. Subject C. All of it. Part of the Trials."

Cassandra felt a jolt of distress zap down her spine, causing her to sit straight in surprise, and she felt Minho grip her hand tightly. She looked at him, hoping that she was just imagining things but the look on his face suggested otherwise. Thomas started to get up beside her but Newt pulled him back down quickly. Rat Man stood up himself, planting his hands in front of him on the desk and leaning forwards to regard them carefully.

"All of it has been part of the Trials, you understand?" he asked rhetorically. "Phase One, to be exact. And we are still dangerously short of what we need. So we've had to up the ante, and now it's time for Phase Two. It's time for things to get difficult."

No one made a sound as he paused, or maybe they didn't want to. Why had he mentioned her and what did it mean? Was she a Variable?

She looked to Minho and he returned her questioning stare, neither of them knowing exactly how to react.

Rat Man slowly sat back down and steepled his fingers under his chin, his gaze drifting around the room until it landed on her and she shivered inwardly. He told them more about the Maze Trials, how it was part of something bigger than they could see. Then he was talking about the Sun Flares, how it ravaged the earth, and the virus that was now named The Flare that came in the aftermath of the devastation. And that how now they had all caught it as well.

Gasps echoed around the room and Rat Man raised his hands, telling them that it would take a while for the symptoms to show- that they'll be able to get a cure at the end of the Trial.

"What the hell is goin' on?" Minho whispered. "We're sick?"

Cassandra frowned. She had no idea what exactly the virus was, except for the hazy recollections of her dreams. Madness that seeped into every cell of the human body, corrupting it with animalistic compulsion to destroy everything within its path.

Were they going to turn into those things?

Rat Man cleared his throat. "Phase Two. The Scorch Trials. It officially begins tomorrow at six o'clock. You'll enter this room and in the wall behind me you will find a Flat Trans. To your eyes, it will appear as a shimmering grey wall. Each of you must step through it by five minutes after the hour. So again, it opens at six o'clock sharp and closes five minutes after that. Do you understand?"

He looked up when all he received was silence and he repeated the question again, slowly. The boys murmured their assents but she continued to stare at him with growing repulsion.

"Good," he picked up a piece of paper and turned it over. "At that point, the Scorch Trials will have begun. The rules are very simple. Find your way to open air, then head due north for one hundred miles. Make it to the safe haven within two weeks' time and you'll have completed Phase Two. At that point, and only at that point, you'll be cured of the Flare. That's exactly two weeks- starting the second you step through the Trans. If you don't make it, eventually you'll end up dead."

There was more silence, as no one really knew where to begin. Rat Man snapped his file close. "There are no rules. No guidelines. You have few supplies, and there's nothing to help you along the way. Go through the Flat Trans at the time indicated. Find open air. Go one hundred miles, directly north, to the safe heaven. Make it or die."

Questions started to erupt in the air after his declaration, but Rat Man didn't seem like he was bothering to listen to any of them. Frypan was asking about what they were going to find at the end, Winston wanted to know more about the Flare and everyone was clamouring with identical questions pouring forth from their mouths.

"You shanks shut up!" Minho shouted and they stopped. "The shuck-face ain't answering, so quit wastin' your time!"

Rat Man nodded once towards him, finally acknowledging his presence. He repeated the instructions once more, as if three times hadn't been enough, then started heading towards the wall behind him. He stopped midway and looked back at them.

"Oh," he said with an air of finality. "You don't have a choice. If you don't go through the Trans, those who remain will be executed in a most... unpleasant manner. Better taking your chances in the outside world. Good luck to all of you."

With a last warning glance, he turned his back on them. The barrier that had kept him separated from them started to fog up and a few seconds later, it disappeared entirely. They stared at the other empty half of the common room, whatever trace of Rat Man and his desk now gone. Everyone blinked dumbly.

"Well, shuck me," Minho said.


	5. AEGEUS

**ACT II SCENE V**  
 **AEGEUS**

* * *

 **PANIC BROKE OUT** like a wave over the Gladers.

"How did we even catch a virus, man?! All we did was sit on that bus and sleep here!" Frankie cried out. "Is it in the air or something?"

"Shuck if I know," Winston replied. "Maybe we got it from the crazies. That means they made us catch it on purpose."

"What are we gonna do?" Archie asked. "He said we didn't have a choice, how are we gonna fend for ourselves out there with nothin'?"

Thomas stood up and headed in the direction of Cassandra's room. Minho was kneading her fingers with his in a show of impatience and the exasperated look on his face mirrored how she felt. She'd been quiet the entire time, thinking about what was waiting for them in the morning outside those walls.

"Come on, guys, we'll figure something out," Newt tried to calm them down. "We just need to bloody do what he says and it'll be fine."

"But we don't know what's out there," Jack pointed out. "You heard what he said, the sun exploding and a virus that makes people crazy. It's gonna be worse than fighting off Grievers and we barely survived that."

Minho stood up and pulled her along with him, then they made their way back to their room. The door to the bathroom was wide open and they saw Thomas leaning over the sink, staring into the drain.

"Dude, how long's it take to drop a load?" Minho asked as they approached him.

"You're so charming," the boy raised his head and looked at them through the reflection. "I can see how Cass fell for you, you're a real keeper."

"Damn right, I'm a Keeper," he retorted.

"They're all acting like a bunch of babies," Thomas scowled. "Can't they see it's useless to talk about it? We all know what we got to do."

"Well, ain't you Mr Happy?" Minho went over and leaned against the wall beside him. "Look, man, those shanks are just as brave as you are. Every last one of us will go through that... whatever he called it-"

"Flat Trans," she provided.

"Flat Trans-" he continued with a nod of thanks. "-tomorrow morning. Who cares if they wanna crack their throats yappin' about it?"

"I never said jack about me being braver than anyone," Thomas frowned. "I'm just sick of hearing people's voices. Yours included."

Minho snickered at him. "Slinthead, when you try to be mean, it's just freaking hilarious."

"Thanks," he paused. "The Flat Trans... it must be some kind of doorway."

"Yeah, sounds like it."

"Something like the Cliff," he continued. "It's flat, and it transports you somewhere. Flat Trans."

"You're a shuck genius," Minho commented dryly and shared a look with her, rolling his eyes. She stopped herself from snorting in laughter; Thomas's brain had obviously been malnourished as well from the last three days.

Newt came in then and walked forwards to join them. "Why are you guys hidin' in here?"

Minho slapped Thomas' shoulder. "We're not hiding. Thomas is just havin' a mid life crisis."

The blonde sighed, absolutely done with his friend's snarky mouth. "Tommy, you went through the Changing. Remember anythin' about what the shank said?"

He shook his head. "I can't really picture how it is out there or the people I helped design the Maze with. Most of it is either faded again or just gone. I've had a couple of weird dreams, but I don't think they help any."

Then Newt rounded on Cassandra who was leaning against the doorframe, hands on his hips and an expectant look in his eyes. She stared back at him morosely before lowering her gaze to the floor. Thomas turned around slowly, realising that they actually had a fountain of knowledge of the outside world at their disposal.

"I know you definitely know something," Newt said to her. "Got any tips for us?"

Cassandra took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled it out slowly as she tried to figure out where to start.

"It's really bad out there," she began uncertainly. "Wastelands for miles around, broken cities and only remnants of life. Those... Cranks, I guess. They're everywhere, and they're dangerous. The ones you saw at the windows probably weren't even Gone yet but-"

"Gone?" Thomas interrupted her. "What do you mean by Gone?"

"It just... came to my mind then," she frowned and shook her head. "Gone. As in... there's nothing human left in 'em. They're Gone."

He looked at Minho, and there was a hint of awe on his face. "I remember her saying that back at the Cliff. Her prediction- this must be what it was referring to. If we don't get the cure, we'll be Gone too."

"I already said you were a shuck genius, Thomas."

"Anyway," she continued. "It's not like we can't kill 'em, it's just that there's a lot of 'em... _too_ many 'em. The memories I have are almost a decade old, it might be a lot worse out there now."

"We need to prepare," Newt nodded his head. "I need to make sure the bloody food's not gone before we leave tomorrow. Something tells me we're gonna need it."

"People are still eating?" Thomas asked in surprise.

"They've stopped for now," he threw a glance to the side. "And Frypan took charge of it all, that shank's religious about food. Or maybe he's just trying to protect the cookies, but I'm scared people might panic and try to eat it anyway."

"Oh, come on," Minho said. "We all got this far for a reason. The idiots are all dead by now." He then glanced cautiously at Thomas and Cassandra, only just realising the mistake he made. It was safe to say that out of all the Gladers, the both of them were the most sensitive to death and loss.

"I hope so," Newt told him. "I think we need to get ourselves organised again, like back in the bloody Glade. Last few days have been miserable, everybody moaning and groaning, no structure, no plan. It's driving me psycho, man."

Cassandra snickered at his plight. "No wonder you're the bloody Glue, Newton."

"What'd you want us to do?" Minho asked. "Form up in lines and do push-ups? We're stuck in a stupid three-room prison, dude."

Newt swatted his hand through the air. "Whatever. I'm just saying, things are obviously gonna change tomorrow and we gotta be ready to face it."

"What are you getting at, Newt?" Thomas asked, pulling his eyebrows together in confusion.

The blonde paused and his gaze turned to him, then to Cassandra, and finally to Minho where it stayed. "We need a solid leader when tomorrow comes. There can't be any doubt who's in charge."

"That's the lamest shuck thing you've ever barked," Minho shook his head. "You're the leader, and you know it. We all know it."

Newt continued to stare at him resolutely. "You think the tattoos are just bloody decorations?"

"Oh, come on," Minho groaned in dismay. "They're just messing with our heads, man. They're probably just more Variables."

As soon as he said the word, it was like a warning bell in their heads and he instantly looked towards Cassandra. The reminder opened a flood gate of worry into her system and she looked away, back to Newt as he stepped forwards and pulled down on Minho's shirt.

"The Leader," he declared. "With a big fat The in front of it."

Minho shrugged him off and crossed his brawny arms. "Yeah, are you gonna start oozing crap from your fingers and sticking us together in a lump?"

"Do you really believe them, Newt?" she frowned.

"They're definitely there for a reason," he gestured. "And not everyone has 'em, so we must have gotten chosen- meaning we're the best fit for 'em."

Her hand automatically reached up to rub the side of her neck and she realised what she was doing too late. She grabbed hold of her hand with the other and pulled them down to clasp in front of her. The Tragedy- she didn't even know what it was supposed to mean. Was she going to die a tragic death or something?

It was curious that she remembered so much about Greek mythology in her head, like it was the one thing that was hard wired into her memory bank. It couldn't be a coincidence, WICKED must want her to figure it all out somehow. She knew the story of the Fall of Troy, the Greek Princess Cassandra being gifted the talent of prophesy but cursed so that no one would believe her, the subsequent sack of the city and her life of slavery- only to be murdered by Clytemnestra, the jealous wife of King Agamemnon, for taking him away from her.

Oh, God, she was going to die.

"Cass, are you okay?" Newt asked. "You've gone real pale."

"What?" she stared at him with a dazed expression. "I'm okay."

Minho went over, took her shoulders and inspected her carefully, eyes darting around her face in concern. He knew without asking what was wrong, he always did.

"It's gonna be fine," he told her and she nodded blankly.

"Tell him, Cass," Newt gestured. "Tell him he's the bloody Leader."

"You're the bloody Leader," she repeated and Minho closed his eyes in a vain attempt to stop himself from rolling them.

"Look, man, why are you messing things up?" he shot the blonde an exasperated glare. "Everyone already knows you're in charge and-"

"They follow you too, though," Thomas interrupted, looking like he wanted to get this whole business over with. "You were the Keeper of the Runners, that's still a big deal. And when we fought the Grievers at the Cliff, you were the one who led us in, gave the orders. They'll follow you without a doubt."

"It's not about that, dude," Minho slumped his shoulders then ruffled his hair up in frustration. "Even then, Newt was the one who told me to do it. This ain't right."

She finally broke out of her reverie and reached out for him, her cool fingers curling around his warm bicep and stroking it soothingly.

"It'll be fine," she repeated what he'd told her just a moment ago. "They told us to respond well to the Variables, didn't they? Maybe they'll go easy on us if we do."

"You just gonna do what those shuck-faces tell us to do?" he raised an eyebrow in question.

"We don't have much of a choice, Minho," her face was pinched with fear. "They're not giving us a choice. Like Rat Man said, everything's been planned from the very beginning."

"Yeah, that makes me hate it all even more," he scowled deeply then sighed, looking back to Newt. "Fine, I'll be the shucking leader, you pansy shank."

"Good that," the blonde said with infinite relief. "Now we can go and prepare for the journey."

Cassandra let go of Minho's arm and took a step back when she suddenly noticed something odd. She examined the furniture around the room and cocked her head to the side in thought. Thomas gave her a funny look in front of her. "I don't like the way you're lookin' at me."

"I'm not looking at you, slinthead," she snapped. "I'm looking at the dresser behind you."

"Oh," he glanced over his shoulder at the aforementioned object. "Why?"

She chewed on her bottom lip, with only one single thought in her mind. The only way she could ensure that they had a survivable chance out there in the fragmented, torn world they now inhabited.

"Weapons."

"Um, Cass... that's a shucking big dresser," Thomas told her.

She heaved a heavy sigh and looked at him like he was the biggest idiot in the entire universe. Minho snickered beside her. "Aw, man, you're gonna get schooled."

"Observe, Thomas," she gestured to the dresser like she was going to do a magic trick. "You see but you do not observe. It's very simple, see these lines? See how they are so magnificently spaced evenly?" She walked forwards and pushed the furniture where it fell with a loud crash onto the floor. Taking a step on it, she kicked the top of the dresser and it popped off surprisingly easy. Cassandra picked it up and pulled it apart, right where a line ran down the middle.

"Everything surrounding us has been put here for a reason," she told them and tore another piece of wood from the side of the dresser, waving it around so it now resembled a flat spear. Minho went over and did the same thing and they started play fighting.

"Wow, Cass," Thomas blinked in shock. "I am legitimately afraid for my life now. You could kill me with a spoon and I would never know."

"No kidding," Newt joined them and plucked out a thicker piece of wood from the side. "This is bloody useful."

"I'm just really creative," she beamed widely.

"This is why-"

"No one messes with your Cassie, we get it," Newt finished for him.

Minho looked up with a grin. "Good that."

She bent down and lifted a plank of wood from the back of the dresser then pulled out one of the drawers. She reached her arm inside and took out the knives that she had stowed away. She'd been prepared for this; the single blade she had taken to bed with her had disappeared after the initial night, which only led her to believe that she had been taken by WICKED after all to have her brain altered again.

"Here," she handed a knife each to the boys, keeping one for herself. Only two were left so they decided to give the remaining ones to Frypan and Winston.

"We can carve the edges to a point," she inspected the rest of the wooden pieces on her haunches. "Then I'll breathe easier knowing everyone can fend for themselves somewhat."

Newt nodded. "I'll let the rest know and we'll get everything organised."

He whirled around and left for the common area. They brought everything that they could take apart out to the common area and Cassandra found more raw materials that she could work with amongst the pile of food; rubber bands, twine and paper. She had the Builders that were with them to help her construct a couple of rudimentary crossbows. They'd be able to do the job close to mid range, and it was good enough for the boys who weren't strong enough to defend themselves in hand to hand combat.

It had been a good thing that she had taken up whittling back in the Glade as she carved stakes and spear points and wooden knives one after the other like she was possessed.

Minho came up to her sometime in the late evening and plucked the knife from her hand. She looked up at him with wide eyes and winced at the crick in her neck.

"That's enough," he told her. "We've got enough."

She looked around at the assortment of pointy sticks and wood shavings surrounding her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, there're more in the boys' dorm too," he took the piece of wood in her other hand and dropped it to the floor. "It's nine, we need to get some sleep before tomorrow."

She wasn't sure she could sleep when her mind was still racing for preparations.

"Hey, we got this," he pulled her up to stand. "Newt has everyone making packs from the bed sheets and Fry's rationed all the food. Sam handed out the weapons to everyone and we're all happy shanks."

"But..."

"C'mon," he took hold of her shoulders and led her back into the room. "Have your shower and get into bed with me."

She broke out into a wide beam at the thought of that. "Okay, only 'cause you insisted."

"You're such a shucking liar," he laughed at her then dropped onto the bed with a wink. "Hurry up, I'm waiting."

Cassandra grinned at him then ducked into the bathroom. Her muscles felt sore from sitting in one position for so long but she thought it was worth the effort- they'd be prepared for whatever came their way in the morning. She just hoped all of them would be able to last the two weeks trek to the safe haven. Hundreds of scenarios ran through her mind as she formulated a solution for each one of them while letting the stream of water wash over her.

When she came out, Minho opened his eyes and smiled. "Finally."

She jumped onto the bed next to him, her damp hair smacking him in the face by accident and he scrunched his nose up. "That's nice."

"Sorry," Cassandra turned around and gathered her hair over her shoulder.

"Kiss it better," he said almost demandingly.

She laughed, leaning in to press her lips against his cheek.

"That's not the spot," he told her and she pecked him on the nose. "That's not it either, Cassie."

She kissed his chin and he sighed, placing his hand behind her head to pull her forwards. His lips met hers with playful delight and she grinned widely as they parted. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she snuggled against his side.

Tomorrow, everything would change once again.


	6. SCIRON

**ACT II SCENE VI**  
 **SCIRON**

* * *

 _ **THE PIECE OF METAL** sheet scraped noisily against the ground as the young girl dragged it towards their made-shift shelter. The sun continued to beat down on them with a vengeance, as if it couldn't believe that they were walking around in its wake. She dumped it next to the entrance of an opening between two collapsed buildings and dusted her hands.  
_

 _"Mon chou," she called. "I think this'll work. There's a place with a few supplies a couple of blocks away that we could drop by tomorrow."_

 _The boy's head popped out of the opening and squinted at her, a smirk on his dirt streaked face._

 _"Great," he responded. "What's in it?"_

 _She pulled out a 9mm caliber Glock 19 from the back of her pants and waved it in the air before tossing it to him. He caught it and checked its rounds, cocking the barrel before stashing it away behind his back with the safety on._

 _"Cool."_

 _She looked around before getting down on all fours and joining him in the rubble, dragging the metal sheet over the opening so that they were now covered in darkness. The boy struck a match and lit a candle on the side. There was the crinkling of plastic as she opened up a bag of chips to share with him._

 _"I think we're around the edge of the city now," she said, wriggling around and pulling out a piece of debris from under her then tossing it to the side. "Then there'll be another settlement thirty miles from here."_

 _"You think anyone will be there this time?" he asked, munching loudly._

 _She shook her head. "I doubt it. Not this close to the main city, but if I remember correctly, there's another one further east that might."_

 _"Do you really think they're picking people up to relocate?" he frowned. "I saw some normal people hiding around the place."_

 _"If they are, the best chance we have is to get to that eastern settlement," she told him. "I heard-"_

 _They stopped when a scream pierced the air nearby, along with the sounds of footsteps sprinting by. It faded into the distance a minute later and she continued._

 _"I heard they're looking for people who are immune. Children, specifically."_

 _"What are they gonna do with us?" he wondered. "Weren't they the ones who shot people with that virus in the first place?"_

 _"Would you prefer to stay out here with the Cranks?" she shot back. "I've had enough of them."_

 _He paused. "Yeah, you're right."_

 _Loud rowdy singing started up around the corner from where they were and he quickly blew out the candle. They moved further into the debris, hiding in the darkness with their guns and waited. There was a loud scrap then the sheet of metal slowly slid away and sunlight filtered in through the gap._

* * *

The incessant beeping of the alarm on their watches woke them up early the next morning. Cassandra rubbed her eyes and whined grudgingly as Minho stirred beside her. They crawled out of the bed and stumbled in the dark to get ready, refusing to switch on the lights just yet to postpone the pain in their retinas.

She pulled on the black pants and jacket that matched her size, made of a smooth light fabric that seemed to be resistant to stain and wear. Minho was dressed in similar apparel, with green cargo pants. They'd been given boots instead of the shiny white running shoes that they were accustomed to and the footwear thumped heavily on the concrete ground as they exited the room.

Cassandra adjusted the makeshift pack around her shoulder and made her way to the boy's dorm with Minho right behind her. A group of the boys were already gathered outside the door, some of them looking anxious and more just wanting to faceplant against the floor.

She had her knife secured in her belt, a stake next to it and carried a spear in her hand, which also doubled as a walking stick. Everyone else clutched similar objects as well. Most, like Thomas, opted to carry their plastic bags of water in their hands instead.

"How much you wanna bet there's a monster waiting for us on the other side?" she smirked, taking a seat next to the boy.

"You're so warm and reassuring, Cass," he said dryly. "I feel so safe."

"Just keepin' it real," the girl shrugged.

Aris asked them whether they thought they had gone crazy when they first started hearing voices in their heads. He seemed happy that he was able to talk to someone about it. Cassandra told them about the first time she went into a trance and how everyone grew even more suspicious of her, as well as the mysterious voice that kept saying she was a mistake.

"The other girls in the group hated me," Aris told them in a low voice. "Some of them wanted to kill me. Rachel was the only one who..."

Cassandra felt like she could empathise with him as she thought back to her time in the Glade, boys like Andy who hated her for simply existing. She bet tons of them wanted her killed too if she hadn't been protected by Minho and Newt, maybe even Nick too. Alby probably would have been honoured to push her out into the Maze himself.

Minho suddenly stood up beside her and addressed everyone. "We've got three minutes. Everybody sure they still wanna go?"

The Gladers around him nodded their heads and she did too.

"Anybody change their minds overnight?" he asked. "Speak now or never. Once we go through that thing, whichever shank decides he's a sissy pants and tries to turn back, I'll make sure he does it with a broken nose and smashed privates."

Newt slapped his face behind her and groaned in dismay.

"Newt, you got a problem?" Minho raised an eyebrow, his voice becoming clipped.

The blonde looked up at him and blinked in surprise. "No, just admiring your bloody leadership skills."

Minho pulled his shirt down, exposing the tattoo on his neck for the room to see. "What does that say, slinthead?"

Newt seemed flustered at the boy's sudden attitude. "We know you're the boss, Minho. Slim it."

"No, you slim it," Minho pointed. "We don't have time for that kinda klunk. So shut your hole."

She knew he was just putting on an act to get back at Newt for forcing him into the leader role and she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Cassandra stood up and lowered his hand, eyes darting around the room to take in the faces of the nineteen other survivors that were with them.

"We stick together, no one gets left behind," she told them, then glanced at Minho. The alarm on her watch started to beep and she reached over to switch it off. "It's six o'clock."

Just as she said it, the invisible barrier that had separated them from the other section of the room turned opaque and disappeared. Behind it, the grey wall shimmered like waves breaking against the shore of a beach.

"Come on!" Minho exclaimed, taking her wrist and darting forwards. "Don't mess around, we only got five minutes to do this. We'll go first, Thomas- you go last, make sure everyone follows me before you come."

The boy nodded and they stopped in front of the glimmering wall as indiscernible shapes and patterns danced across its impossible surface. Minho looked at the rest of the Gladers over his shoulder.

"See you shanks on the other side."

Hand in hand, they stepped through the ice-cold murk of shadows.

* * *

She instantly became blind and her hand grasped Minho's tightly as she held the other up in front of her.

"We need to make way," she said hastily then muttered a few curses under her breath as she tripped over her own two feet and stumbled.

Minho steadied her with his firm grip and they took a few steps forward into the endless darkness. They heard footsteps behind them, someone calling out their names, then another voice doing the same right after.

"We're just in front of you guys," Minho called back. "Everyone file into a single line behind us!"

"Be careful!" she said loudly as someone fell down with a grunt. "Just come on up here, make way for the rest to come through."

She felt fingers brush against her shoulder and she reached out to grasp on a boy's arm. It turned out to be Frypan and she could hear the relief in his voice when he found her. They shuffled a little further down as more boys came out of the Flat Trans.

Cassandra tried to count each new shocked voice that joined them in the dark when Thomas finally yelled out for them. There was a brief scuffle; a couple of grunts and another boy crying out in pain as Thomas presumably fell on top of him.

"Everyone be still and shut up!" Minho snapped. "Thomas, was that you? Are you in here?"

"Yes!" the boy called from the back. "I was the last to go through. Did everyone else make it?"

"We were counting until you came stumbling through like a doped-up bull," Minho retorted. "Okay, let's do it properly this time. One!"

"Two!" Thomas responded a second later and they started counting until it reached Cassandra.

"Twenty-one."

"Good that," she felt Minho turn around and twist her arm so that she had to let go. "We're all here, wherever here is. Can't see a shuck thing."

"I think it's some kinda tunnel," she breathed, her hand sliding against cold concrete on the side.

"Too bad we don't have a flashlight," Thomas quipped from the end.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, Mr Thomas," she didn't need to see Minho to know that he was rolling his eyes. "Okay, from what I can tell, most of you are on my right and where Thomas is standing is where we came from. We better not take any chances accidentally going back through the Flat Trans thingamajiggy, so everyone follow my voice and come toward me. No choice but to head down this way and see what we find."

She found him again and clutched the back of his jacket as they moved forwards. The rest of the Gladers went after them and they walked in perpetual nothingness with only the sounds of their breathing and footsteps shuffling across the ground, punctuated with the crinkling of water bags and rustle of clothes.

Cassandra felt like the silence would suffocate her with madness soon, and she really hoped it wouldn't come to that- now would be the worst possible time for her to start spazzing out. Someone stepped on the heel of her boot and she heard Winston whisper an apology behind her.

It felt like half an hour had passed since they started and she was beginning to feel apprehensive. Her fist tightened around the fabric of Minho's jacket and a chill swept over her when she heard a scratchy whisper overhead.

 _Over_ their heads, like it was coming from cracks in the ceiling above them.

She halted, as did Minho, and looked around even though she couldn't see anything through the inky gloom. There had only been two words that she could make out from the sudden eerie sound.

"Stop!" Minho yelled and Winston bumped into her back again. "Did you hear that?"

The Gladers started murmuring that they did, and questions popped up in the musty air. Cassandra shushed them and the whisper came back a moment later, making her hair stand up on end.

"Did anybody get what it said?" Newt asked.

"Sounded like 'go back' in the middle," Winston replied.

"Yeah, it did," Jack agreed.

"One-chance deal. Go back now or you'll be sliced," she told them in a deathly whisper that managed to carry across the tunnel.

Everyone froze in a disturbed silence, then the whisper came back one more time and they all heard the words clearly then. It was exactly as she had said, and her blood ran cold from the ominous warning. The Gladers started to ask more questions and Archie exclaimed with hopeful enthusiasm.

"He said we could go back!"

"We can't trust some random shank whispering in the dark!" Frankie retorted.

"Just keep going!" Thomas shouted from the rear. "I can't take this any longer. Just go!"

"Wait," Frypan said. "The voice said one-chance deal. We gotta at least think about it."

"No way," Thomas retorted. "The guy at the desk told us we'd all die horrible deaths if we go back."

"Well, what makes him any more in charge than this whispering dude?" Frypan argued back. "How're we supposed to know who to listen to and who to ignore?"

"The voice is just a test. We need to keep going."

"He's right," Minho said and she felt relieved to hear his voice again. "Let's go."

 **"You're all dead. You're all going to be sliced! Dead and sliced!"**

The whisper raged and she thought her heart would stop.

Minho started to move down the tunnel again and she followed swiftly. No one else protested as they shuffled along behind them. The apprehensive feeling in her gut continued to grow steadily after hearing the rusty voice and she felt all her senses were on high alert. She could tell Minho was too by how his body movements felt rigid.

The air started to get warmer the further along they went and she coughed as their boots stirred the thick layer of dust beneath them back to life. Cassandra covered her face with her hand and concentrated on following Minho's footsteps in front of her. Her heart thumped restlessly against her chest at the change of atmosphere. Were they finally reaching the end of this blasted tunnel?

Suddenly a surprised yell erupted behind her, growing into a screech of terror and pain.

She let go of Minho and dove into the flock of boys, making her way in the direction of the shrieks. It was Frankie, she recognised the husky timbre of his voice- had talked to him on so many occasions.

Thomas was there before her, already yelling over the cacophony of the boy thrashing on the ground. Frankie's voice became wet, gurgling amidst his continued screams of agony. She dropped to her knees on the ground, felt Thomas' thick hair in front of her then to the quivering body beneath him. Her hands went up his shirt, across his chest and then-

Cassandra cried out in shock, her fingers grasping something cold and spherical around where the boy's neck was supposed to be.

A metallic ball encasing his entire head.


	7. EPEIUS

**ACT II SCENE VII**  
 **EPEIUS**

* * *

 **"WHAT THE SHUCK?"** Cassandra yelled and grabbed hold of the ball, trying to pull it off but it was clamped tightly around the boy's head. "What the hell?! Shucking-!"

"What's wrong?!" Thomas shouted beside her as she grunted, fingers slipping against the smooth surface.

Suddenly the ball fell off with a heavy thud and her hands passed through air. Cassandra collapsed backwards onto the ground in shock, her heart beating painfully against her chest. The boy's body stilled instantly with one last thump of his heavy boots and she smelled the faint reek of copper in the air.

Thomas started freaking out beside her, his voice shouting unintelligibly as he was suddenly incapable of forming coherent words. Someone pulled her up and she felt Minho's calloused hands on her face, his fingers brushing blindly across her eyes and cheeks.

"Cassie? Are you okay?" he asked, feeling his breath on her skin and she nodded her head instinctively.

"I-I think... yeah," she swallowed. "I'm okay..."

If she could have seen what had happened, she probably wouldn't have been okay. Was Frankie really dead? Had his head actually gotten sliced off? Minho took her around the shoulders, pulling her away with him and then she could hear him reaching out for Thomas, picking him up from the ground as well.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I... I don't know. Who was that? Who was down there screaming?" the boy asked, his voice trembling with fear.

"It was Frankie," she answered faintly.

"Yeah, it was definitely Frankie," Winston confirmed. "He was just next to me, making a joke, then it was like something yanked him away."

"What happened?" Minho repeated.

"His head..." she whispered then took a deep breath to project her voice louder. "Something ate his head; it was round and metal, like a ball. Then it just... dropped off."

"What the shuck?" Minho breathed in disbelief. "Are you freakin' kidding me?"

"Didn't you hear it rolling away after he stopped screaming?" Thomas asked. "I know it-"

"It's right here!" Newt shouted and there was a scrape of metal against the ground. The boy grunted with effort as he picked it up. "I heard it roll over here. And it's all wet and sticky- feels like blood."

"Newton, what are you doing?" Cassandra asked in disgust.

She didn't want to think about what could be in that ball. God, no, she couldn't handle that and actually felt glad that the darkness blinded her. Was Frankie seriously dead? She couldn't believe it.

"What the klunk?" Minho asked again. "How big is it?"

Everyone started asking questions at the same time. Newt yelled for them to slim it, then his fingers started sliding against the metal.

"I don't know," he finally said. "Bigger than a buggin' head, that's for sure. It's perfectly round- a perfect sphere."

"We need to run," Thomas said urgently. "We need to go. Now."

"Maybe we should go back," it sounded like Sam. "Whatever that ball is, it sliced off Frankie's head, just like the old shank warned us."

"No," she said loudly at the same time as Minho.

"No way," he went on angrily. "Thomas is right. No more dinkin' around. Everyone spread out a couple of feet from each other, then run. Hunch down, and if something comes near your head, hit the living crap out of it."

"Good that," she nodded to herself, liking his plan.

They started to reposition themselves, Minho took her hand and they returned to the front of the group. He didn't let go when he started running ahead. She held an arm above her as she ducked her head low, ready to lash out at the barest touch of cold metal.

Someone screamed from down the line, she couldn't tell who it was this time but Minho gripped her hand tighter and continued to pull her down the tunnel. They ran, boots stirring more clouds of dust into the air and she tried not to open her mouth to inhale it in.

There was the clank of metal hitting the wall as the scream gurgled to an abrupt stop behind them but it was no use to even look back. Then Minho stumbled and she toppled onto his back, crying out painfully as she banged her knee against something hard. He called out for the others to stop while gathering her in his arms in the darkness and she felt his lips touch the top of her head apologetically.

The Gladers skidded to halts behind them and the tunnel was filled with their panting breaths and the stench from their exertions.

"Why'd we stop?" Frypan asked with heavy pants.

"'Cause I almost broke my shin on something up here!" Minho shouted back. "I think it's a stairway."

She felt around in the pitch darkness and her hand brushed against rough metal, one metre in breadth. Then she reached up and her fingers curled around the rails.

"Yup, definitely a stairway!" she announced.

"Well, let's go up them!" Frypan said cheerfully.

"Ya think?" Minho shot back. "What would we do without you, Frypan? Seriously."

They picked themselves up and started ascending the circling steps quickly at a fast jog. The metal rung almost shrilly in the air under the stomps of their feet and she continued to slide her hand against the railing to keep herself steady.

"Be careful!" she yelled down as the others followed their lead. "The steps are flimsy as shuck!"

She continued up the spiralling stairs until she slammed her face into something solid. "Ow!" she yelled with Minho, bumping into his back once again as he knocked his head into something metal. "God damn it!" she cried out when someone crashed into her and sent the both of them sprawling against the stairs. A few more Gladers tripped over them and Cassandra groaned in frustration at the bottom of the body pile.

"You okay?" Newt asked next to her ear.

"No," she retorted angrily.

"What did you guys hit?" Thomas called from further below.

"The shuck top, that's what," Minho responded in irritation. "We hit the roof and there's nowhere else..."

She heard his hands sliding against the metal top and there was a click.

"Hang on, I think I found-"

Her eyes ignited with hot fiery pain and she let out a strangled yelp at the sudden onslaught. Then her skin burned from the radiation of the merciless sun above as the heat wave rolled over her. There was a dull clunk as Minho dropped the top shut and she didn't think she'd ever feel that glad for slinking back into the shadows.

"Shuck me," Minho said, his voice tight. "Looks like we found a way out but I think it's on the freaking sun! Man, that was bright. And hot."

She moaned lowly, feeling faint and light headed as spots erupted in her vision.

"Let's just open it a crack and let our eyes get used to it," Newt suggested, taking a step up to the top. "Here's a shirt- wedge it in there. Everyone shut your eyes."

Cassandra clamped her hands over them as Minho lifted the top once more. She could still see the searing white light through the crack in her palms, blazing through the thin skin of her eyelids. It was excruciating and it took her a long time to gather the courage to lower her hands and squint up at the impossibly intense beam of light. Beneath her, the dull grey stairs rose up from a sea of impenetrable gloom.

"Anybody blind now?" Minho asked. "I feel like my eyeballs are roasted marshmallows."

"What are eyes?" she asked back, scrunching her face up as she peered at his equally sullen face.

"Good bloody question," Newt grunted unhappily.

"So what's up there?" someone asked from the bottom of the line, his voice bouncing off the walls.

Minho shrugged as he peeked back out of the crack, his hand held up to shield his eyes. "Not sure. All I can see is a lot of bright light- maybe we are on the shuck sun. But I don't think there's any people out there." He paused. "Or Cranks."

"Great," she said flatly.

"Let's get out there then," Winston said. "I'd rather get a sunburn than my head attacked by some ball of steel. Let's go!"

"All right, Winston," Minho replied chidingly. "Keep your undies on, I just wanted to let our eyes adjust first. I'll throw the door all the way open to make sure we're okay. Get ready."

He stepped up so that he could heave his shoulders against the plate of metal. Cassandra braced herself, covering her face with her hands once more.

"One. Two. Three!"

He grunted and there was a squeal of rusty hinges as the door fell open on the outside. She felt the burn instantaneously, across her entire body so that every nerve ending was set ablaze with pricks of pain.

"Aw, man," she groaned again. "I'm already melting like a popsicle."

Minho and Newt shuffled down towards her, hiding behind her back.

"Something's wrong, dude!" Minho cried. "It's already burning my skin!"

"He's right," Newt rubbed his face and neck. "I don't think we can go out there. We might have to wait till the sun goes down."

The Gladers moaned in complaint, then Winston started shouting. "Whoa! Hey! Watch out!"

She brought her hands down from her face and tore her eyelids open. Ignoring the ache at the back of her eyeballs, she turned around and looked in apprehension as a big glob of silvery liquid pooled on the surface of the ceiling in front of them. It formed into a silvery ball of molten metal and dropped down. She took a step back, her heel digging into the edge of the next step as the ball hovered in the air before flying in the direction of Winston's face.

"Winston!" Cassandra yelled out as it enveloped the boy's head and he screamed, falling backwards down the stairs. She could only stare in horrified shock as Thomas darted after him. The liquid metal had consumed the top half of Winston's head, slowly oozing down to consume the rest of his face. His hands were desperately trying to claw it off as he kicked his legs against the wall.

"Get it off me!" he yelled, voice strangled with pain and face completely flushed.

She couldn't see properly but it seemed that Winston was able to stop the ball from eating his entire head immediately; although the metallic substance still clung stubbornly to his skin. Thomas grabbed hold of the top and there was a loud sucking sound as it came loose briefly before seeping back down and Winston screamed again.

A few of the Gladers near them rushed to help but Thomas yelled at them to back off.

"We have to do it together!" he shouted. "Try to get a grip and lift it off your head!"

Winston continued to struggle and it didn't seem like he had heard the instruction.

"On the count of three! Winston! On the count of three!"

She felt her body tensed as she watched and prayed to whatever omnipotent being there was in the entire universe that it would work. Then Thomas pulled, and Winston managed to push with his palms. The silver flew through the air as Thomas flung it over his shoulders and it solidified behind him. She saw it form into a dense sphere, stopping as if to reassess itself, before darting back down into the darkness below.

The rush of air from her lungs was a breath of relief and she hurried down towards them, nudging boys out of her way. She grabbed a towel from her pack and wrapped it around Winston's head as he sobbed and whimpered on the steps. His hair was gone, leaving only blistering red skin on his scalp and ears. It was terrible and she didn't want to think about how much pain he must be in. Or how traumatised he felt.

"Are you okay?" Thomas asked and Winston merely jerked his head from side to side, trembling.

She looked up at Minho and Newt as she tried to coax the boy to stand on his feet. They stared back down mutely, eyes wide with shock.

"What was that shuck thing?" Minho murmured.

"Magic goop that eats people's heads, that's what it was," Newt retorted.

"Must be some kind of new technology," Aris said. He shrugged as if embarrassed at the surprised glances that were sent his way. "I've had a few splotchy memories come back. I know the world has some pretty advanced techno stuff- but I don't remember molten metal that tries to eat people."

"Yeah, no kidding," she murmured as Winston steadied himself against her shoulder.

"That crap must keep gelling around your face, then eat into the flesh of your neck until it cuts clean through," Minho pointed. "Nice. Real nice."

"Minho, please," she frowned, feeling sick at the image he conjured up in her mind.

"That thing came out of the shuck ceiling," Frypan pointed. "Let's get out of here. Now."

"Couldn't agree more," Newt nodded.

Minho looked at her with a wince. "Jack, Frypan! Help Winston along. Aris, gather the klunk he dropped and have a couple of guys help you carry it. Cassie, come here, we're leaving. I don't care how bright or brutal the light is up there- I don't feel like having my head turn into a bowling ball today."

She passed Winston to Jack and climbed back up the stairs to Minho, his back already turned against them as he squinted up at the square of light above. Her eyes itched and watered whenever she glanced directly at it.

"Newt, Thomas. The four of us are going through first."

Cassandra stood next to him, cocking her head to the side as she sighed heavily at their seemingly easy yet inconceivable task ahead.

"Let's go," Newt said behind her without hesitation in his voice. He actually sounded eager to go out there.

"Hang on-" she said just as Minho stuck a hand out into the light.

He drew back, hissing. "That's hot. Definitely hot."

"Yeah, you think?" she exclaimed, taking his hand and wrapping her cool fingers around it. "We need to cover ourselves before heading out there."

"You're right, I don't wanna have second-degree sunburns in five minutes," he replied.

Newt suggested they empty their packs and use the sheets as cover, then they could use the other half of the sheets to carry all their supplies. She bent down to remove the things from hers as Minho simply upended his onto the floor. Gladers scrambled instinctively to stop the objects from rolling off the edge of the steps into the darkness below and she scooped an apple up as it rolled her way.

"Minho, watch it!" she chastised but he didn't seem to care.

"We'll look like ghosts," Thomas said as he already had his sheet loose from when he helped Winston. "Scare away any bad guys out there."

"Funny boy, that Thomas," Minho huffed as he untied the knots in his sheet. "Let's just hope there aren't any nice Cranks to greet us. I don't see how anyone could be hanging out in this heat though. Hopefully they'll be trees or some kinda shelter."

"Then they might be hiding, bloody waitin' to get us or somethin'," Newt said.

"We won't know till we investigate," Thomas whipped his sheet out and wrapped it around himself. "How do I look?"

"Like the ugliest shanky girl I've ever seen," Minho made a face at him. "You better thank the gods above you were born a dude."

"Thanks," he responded.

The three of them wrapped themselves up as he did; gripping the sheet from the inside and making a tip over their faces so they had maximum coverage. They looked ridiculous, like mutated albino birds without feathers.

"You shanks ready?" Minho asked, looking at each of them in turn.

"Kind of excited actually," Newt replied.

"Me too," Thomas bounced on the balls of his feet. "Let's go."

"You guys are crazy," she moved to stand next to Minho. "You go first, honourable Leader."

"You're not gonna let me live this down, are you?" he gave her a look of resignation.

"Never."

He sighed then looked up at the brilliant glare above them, and made a run for it.

"See ya on the sun, slintheads," she waved without looking back and went after him.


	8. ELECTRA

**ACT II SCENE VIII**  
 **ELECTRA**

* * *

 **THE LIGHT SWALLOWED HER WHOLE,** taking in her entire body until she thought that every molecule in her being had disintegrated into a blinding white haze. Then her vision managed to refocus itself and she was standing on parched earth.

The next attack was the heat- vaporising away all the moisture from her throat and eyes. She knew that the human body was made up of about sixty percent of water, and she felt it all evaporating out of her pores. Minho turned around to look at her, breathing heavily, with an expression that clearly read they had just arrived on an alien freaking planet.

Thomas bumped into her a moment later, coughed and squatted down as he raised his sheet over his head to cover himself completely under it. Newt emerged after him, crying out loud, and doubling over as if he'd just been winded.

"You guys alright?" Minho asked after a while and Thomas grunted something that sounded like a yes.

"Pretty sure we just arrived in bloody hell," Newt said. "Always thought you'd end up here, Minho, but not me."

"Good that," Minho replied with a snort. "My eyeballs hurt, man, but I think I'm kinda getting used to it."

"Or your nerve endings have just become desensitised," she pointed.

"Or that."

Thomas continued to hide underneath his sheet on the ground and Minho threw him an amused glance.

"Who you hidin' from?" he asked. "Get up, ya shank- I don't see anybody."

The boy started to peek out sheepishly from under it, trying to gather himself into something more sensible. She turned around, taking in the barren wasteland surrounding them that seemed entirely familiar to her. Heat waves rolled and dissipated into the air in the distance and the sun gleamed against the cracked yellow ground. Miles and miles of nothing stretched on around them in the dizzying torridity.

"You're right, Newt," she said. "This is exactly what hell would look like."

Cassandra dared to look up to take in their bearings, there was an actual ball of white light in the sky and she thought this was undeniably real. They were definitely out in the real world now, not another well executed simulation. The sun was on her right and up ahead there was the thin outline of a mountain range behind a dark cluster of buildings due north. She pointed her finger at it. "I guess that's where we need to be headed. Towards those mountains. At least there's something along the way there."

"How far do you think those buildings are?" Newt asked.

"Could that be a hundred miles?" Thomas wondered out loud. "That's definitely north. Is that where we have to go?"

"No way, dude," Minho shook his head. "We're supposed to go that way but that's not even close to a hundred miles. Twenty at most. And the mountains might be sixty or seventy."

"Looks about right," she nodded her head and covered her eyes with a hand as she gauged the distance.

"Didn't know the both of you could measure distance with nothin' but your bloody eyeballs," Newt squinted up at them in disbelief.

"We're Runners, shuck-face," Minho retorted. "You get a feel for stuff like that in the Maze, even if its scale was a lot smaller. Don't ya remember?"

"No," the blonde grumbled.

"I don't know about the Maze," Cassandra whacked her spear against the earth, sending a poof of dust into the humid air and watching it fall heavily onto the ground again. "But I remember us bein' in hell before."

"Where exactly are we?" Thomas looked at her.

"I think they called it the Scorch," she said. "It's a place around the middle of the continent, where the Sun Flares did the most damage."

"Great," Newt said sarcastically. "Transported to the middle of bloody nowhere. Perfect."

"Looks like a nuclear holocaust out there," Thomas observed. "Is the whole world like this too?"

"Some other places are," she replied. "But not the entire world, no."

"Good," Minho took a step forward. "I'd be happy to see one tree right now. Maybe a creek."

"I'd settle for a patch of grass," Newt sighed.

She laughed humourlessly. "Keep wishin', fellas."

They decided to brave out the sun towards the dusty buildings on the horizon and called the other Gladers up into the open air. Each boy staggered, gasping for breaths, as they stepped out and tried to acclimatise themselves with their new surroundings. It took a while for everyone to recompose themselves and get into an organised group again, but Cassandra thought this was better than cowering in the darkness with head-eating metal balls of unholiness. She looked around at their faces, noticing that Frankie and Sam were no longer amongst them, before turning her attention back to the blistering barren land.

She couldn't believe that any of it had happened, and there was a large part of her that fooled herself into believing that the boys would rejoin them later. They couldn't be dead.

The bed sheets were split amongst them and the supplies had to be stuffed into the remaining half. Cassandra got under a cover with Minho and plodded across the flat ground with her spear in hand- now doubling as a walking stick. The sun burned every inch of her exposed skin that was directly under its rays of light. They took turns to carry the heavy pack every half an hour as they marched across the splintered earth.

"You said you remembered us bein' here," Minho said next to her, his sweat slicked arm brushing against her own every other step. She had decided to take off her jacket for the time being despite the liability, it was just too uncomfortable, and some of the Gladers followed suit. "You mean all of us or just the two of us?"

"Just the two of us," she breathed, wiping more beads of sweat from her forehead and upper lip. It felt like her entire head had turned into a fountain. "There were places in between that were like this, completely scorched by the sun flares."

"What else do you remember?" he asked.

"Just running around the shuck place," she told him. "Through cities, burnt forests, abandoned settlements... hiding from Cranks, picking supplies up wherever we could find. Always runnin'."

"Just the both of us?" his voice had a sceptical edge, as if he couldn't quite believe it. "How old were we? There wasn't anyone else with us?"

"There was..." she hesitated, a face floating in her mind and she felt the grief as if it had happened just yesterday, not years ago in some other lifetime. "My father. But he... he did everything he could to keep us safe. Even giving up his own life."

There was a pause then Minho murmured quietly. "I'm sorry."

"What are you apologising for?" she chuckled darkly. "Anyway... he taught us what we needed to know to survive. We were young but... we did what we had to do. He made sure of that."

"Ouch, sounds tough. Imagine making your own kid go through that," he commented. "What was it like? I mean, what were _we_ like?"

She smiled, a genuine one this time, and looked at him with those sparkling eyes that he adored so much.

"Not much different than now," she answered with an undercurrent of mischief in her tone. "Except I was the fearless leader."

"Sure, you were," he nudged her and she laughed. "If a Crank jumps at me, you better get 'im off me."

"No way, dude," she scrunched her nose up in disgust. "You're on your own now."

He looked at her with a wide smirk on his face, knowing full well that she would never do that even if her own life was in mortal peril. He bumped his head against hers affectionately and she pressed her lips together to smother the grin that was threatening to break through.

Frypan started shouting from their side and they stopped to look at where he was pointing. She could see two people heading in their direction through the waves of heat that shrouded them, kicking up a cloud of dust in their wake. She gripped her spear tightly and her muscles coiled, a wary glint taking place in her eyes.

"Pack in tighter," Minho called to the others and he checked his back to make sure his knife was still secured at his belt. "Get ready to fight 'em at the first sign of trouble."

The newcomers came closer and she could see the ragged clothes they wore to conceal themselves from the beating sun. Torn strips of material sewn together covered their faces, with only slits cut through for them to see and breathe. Their raw, cut up hands were the only parts of their bodies that were exposed to the elements. They stopped about ten feet away, panting heavily from their recent exercise.

"Who are you?" Minho raised his voice loud enough for them to hear him.

They didn't respond, merely continued to breathe laboriously, and the boy repeated himself. Then the two strangers parted, she could see the one on the right was a woman from the distinct shape of her body and how it moved. Cassandra narrowed her eyes, keeping them trained on the stranger closest to her as they walked around the group in a circle as if sizing them up.

She wasn't worried that they wouldn't be able to take them on; their group largely outnumbered the intruders even if they were Cranks that were already past Gone. But their silence annoyed her and she moved her spear threateningly.

"There are a whole lot more of us than there are of you," Minho said beside her, his voice equally frustrated. "Start talking. Tell us who you are."

"We're Cranks," the woman answered simply and pointed at the town from where they had come from.

"Cranks?" Minho turned, following the woman as she continued to circle. "Just like the ones that tried to break into our building a couple days ago?"

"We're Cranks," the man repeated from the other side, and he pointed just as his companion had done. "Came to see if you're Cranks too. Came to see if you've got the Flare."

"And what if we are?" Cassandra asked. "Gonna welcome us with open arms? Throw us a huge party?"

"How did you get in the Scorch?" the woman started asking back. "Where'd you come from? How'd you get here?"

At least they weren't halfway to Gone just yet if these people really were Cranks. She heard Minho leaned over to Newt and started whispering. "What do we tell these people?"

"The truth? It can't hurt," Thomas said.

Minho snorted and replied sarcastically. "The truth? What an idea, Thomas. You're freaking brilliant as usual."

"Stop," she hissed at them. "They wouldn't know klunk about any truth we tell them." Then she raised her voice to speak to the woman again. "We came from the tunnels. What's in that town? Are there more Cranks there?"

"Not all the Cranks are gone," the man replied instead. "Not all of us are past the Gone. Different ones at different levels. Best you learn who to make friends with and who to avoid. Or kill. Better learn right quick if you're coming our way."

Cassandra sighed and forced herself to relax her stance. "Fine. We won't kill you just yet then. What should we look out for?"

They met up in front of their group again, backs turned against the town.

"They've divided the city into Zones," the man told her, his tone more cooperative. "Watch out for the old guy, he's mean. He'll be the first to greet you on this side of town."

"If you don't have it yet, you will soon," the woman warned. "Same with the other group. The ones that're supposed to kill you."

Cassandra glanced to Thomas, her mind already racing. Group B were ahead of them, had already gone pass this area. They were wasting time here trying to get information that would never come. She turned back to the pair but they were already retreating, running back towards the buildings in the distance. They watched as their figures disappeared back into the swirl of heat and dust.

"Other group?" Frypan asked.

"Wonder if they're talking about my group," Aris said.

"Group B?" Thomas snapped out of his daze and looked at him. "You think they've already made it to the town?"

"Yes, Thomas, that's exactly what I think," she told him and leaned against her stick wearily.

"Hello!" Minho snapped. "Who cares? You'd think the part about them killing us would be the attention getter. Maybe this stuff about the Flare? Or the old guy who'll greet us?"

Cassandra turned to him, her jaw set in a tight line. He was right; there was no point in worrying about where the other group was for now. They needed to make it through to that town first, find out what they could find- maybe gather more supplies. Actual water bottles, for instance. Thinking about it made her swallow, her throat was killing her.

"Maybe she meant me specifically," Thomas continued. "Couldn't tell where her eyes were looking."

"How'd she know who you are?" Minho retorted with mild exasperation. "And it doesn't matter. If someone tries to kill you, or me, or anyone else, they might as well try to get all of us. Right?"

"You're so sweet," Frypan snorted whimsically. "Go ahead and die with Thomas. I think I'll sneak away and enjoy living with the guilt."

He was mostly joking and Cassandra snickered, wanting to agree with him and quip in her own senseless joke but Jack spoke out. "What do we do now?"

"What do you think?" Newt asked, looking to Minho.

The leader rolled his eyes. "We keep going, that's what. We don't have a choice. If we stay out here, we'll die of sunstroke or starvation. If we go in, we'll have some shelter for a while, maybe even some food. Cranks or no Cranks, that's where we're headin'."

"And Group B?" Thomas asked anxiously. "Or whoever they were talking about. What if they really wanna kill us? What if they outnumber us?"

Minho flexed his arm beside her. "If it's really these girls Aris was hangin' out with, I'll show 'em these guns of mine and they'll go runnin'."

Cassandra groaned and buried her face in a hand. "Minho... I swear to God."

He snickered but Thomas continued to argue. "What if it's not them but a bunch of seven-foot-tall grunts who like to eat humans? Or a thousand Cranks?"

"Thomas... no," Minho said flatly. "Everybody, just shut your holes and slim it. No more questions. Unless you have an idea that doesn't involve absolute certain death, then quit your pipin' and let's take the only chance we got. Get it?"

They settled down just as he ordered.

"Anybody else wanna pee their pants and cry for Mommy?" he asked and a few boys snickered in reply.

"Good that," she sighed and stood up straighter. "Let's move on. Quickly."

"Okay, Newt, you lead up front this time, limp and all," Minho gestured. "Thomas, you in the back. Jack, take a break. Frypan, your turn to help Winston. Everyone else, let's go."

They hung the sheet at the top of her spear and let it drape around them. The other Gladers copied the idea, and they seemed relieved to let their arms rest a little. Cassandra looked up to the sky, the sun sinking further down towards the horizon and hoped that they wouldn't bump into any trouble when night fell.

An hour passed as they continued to trudge on across the desolate wilderness and the sky turned a brilliant hue of purplish orange. They rearranged their stuff, using their sheets to full utility again like they had when they first started out. Twilight descended to twinkle all around them and a hush fell along with the darkness.

* * *

They ran when the town grew closer, rising like a looming shadow towards them. She could hear noises coming from its direction, a ringing sound that kept growing louder the closer they approached the derelict buildings. She could finally make out some distinctions and they were tall, some even reaching ten floors. It must have been a vestige of a larger city before and that made her worry; more room meant more people.

Her feet grounded to a halt and she looked around in alarm. The ringing wasn't ringing at all- but someone screaming. A girl, by the pitch of it, wailing into the dusky night as if she was trying to shred through her own vocal chords. It was a haunting sound that set her teeth on edge.

"Know what that reminds me of?" Minho asked, his voice barely above a whisper and tinged with fear.

"Ben. Alby. Me? Screaming after a Griever sting?" Thomas guessed.

"You got it."

"Oh, no," Frypan moaned behind them. "Don't tell me those suckers are out here too? I can't take it!"

"Doubt it," Newt said. "Remember how moist and gooey their skin was? They'd turn into big balls of dust if they rolled around here."

"It's not Grievers we have to be worried about out here," Cassandra told them and wrung her hands around her spear nervously. "I've never been stung but from what I've heard and seen... it's kinda like the Flare. It's agonising and it slowly drives you insane."

"I feel fine though," Thomas said and she looked at him as if a thought just occurred to her.

"Shuck, Thomas, you're weird," she frowned and he gave her an exasperated look in return.

"Anyway, Grievers aren't all WICKED could probably create," he said. "That rat guy said things were finally going to get tough."

"Once again, Thomas gives us an encouraging pep talk," Frypan proclaimed.

"Just saying it how it is."

The Cook huffed almost angrily. "I know. And how it is sucks big-time."

"Okay, enough, children," Cassandra snapped and looked around. "I don't like where we're standin', it's too exposed."

"I think we should take a break first," Minho said. "Fill our little tummies and drink up. Then book it for as long as we can while the sun's still down. Maybe get a couple hours' sleep before dawn."

She bit her lip in thought, a break would probably do them some good but she really didn't want to stay out in the open for too long.

"What about the psycho screaming lady?" Frypan cocked his head in the direction of the sound.

"She's plenty busy with her own troubles," Minho responded.

Then as if in silent agreement, everyone sat down and started to unpack their things. Cassandra glanced at her watch, keeping an eye on the time and urging them to move on again as soon as they were all satiated.

The realisation that came from Thomas' statement earlier came back to agitate her thoughts. Everyone she knew that had gone through the Changing had their sanity deteriorate after a while. Why was Thomas different? Why wasn't he slowly going insane?

The second thing that she was worried about was Group B. Teresa must be among them, wherever they were right at that moment. If they were supposed to kill Thomas, for whatever reason, was she going to go through with that too? Had they brainwashed her?

There were too many questions that had no answers and she sighed, turning her focus back to the lifeless flat ground. So many things started to come back to her; rummaging through rubble, sleeping in dirty sewers, fighting to survive. This was, inevitably, her entire life now.

Minho suddenly stopped and she came to a halt a couple of steps ahead of him. She looked back with a raised eyebrow and he smiled back almost uncomfortably.

"Potty break," he announced and she rolled her eyes.

 _Oh, God._

It was times like this that she hated being the only girl amongst them. She'd been fine until he mentioned it, managed to put all thought of other bodily functions out of her mind. Cassandra turned around, trying to look for some kind of cover or a conveniently placed bush when her eyes zoned in on a shape in the distance.

A square building, seemingly out of place in the forsaken wasteland.

Thomas called out, pointing at it and Minho turned to look as well. "Huh. Wonder what it is," the older boy frowned.

The screaming girl stopped then, as if she was finally spared of all her misery. Movement caught her eye and she turned her attention back to the building. A figure stepped out from the shadows, long dark hair swaying in a sudden breeze that made her skin tingle. The pale light from the moon caught in the distant girl's eyes.

Blue eyes that burned with a vibrant cold flame.


	9. INO

**ACT II SCENE IX**  
 **INO**

* * *

 **CASSANDRA TOOK A STEP FORWARD,** unable to believe her own eyes, thinking what she had seen was just a figment of her imagination. But the sudden jolt through her body sent her heart hammering and her gut instinct told her that she was right.

"Teresa?" she whispered into the still air. Her eyes continued to stare at the figure, trying to make out its shape and size; comparing it to her friend that had mysteriously disappeared only a few days ago.

"Is that really her?" Newt stepped up to them.

"Don't know..." Thomas answered.

"You think she was the one screaming?" Frypan asked. "It stopped right when she walked out."

"Huh," Minho grunted. "Better bet is she was the one torturing somebody. Probably killed her and put her out of her misery when she saw us coming." He clapped his hands. "Okay, who wants to go meet this nice young lady?"

"I'll go," Thomas volunteered a little too eagerly.

"I was kidding, shuck-face. We'll all go. She could have an army of psycho girl ninjas in that shack of hers."

"Psycho girl ninjas?" Newt exchanged an exasperated glance with her.

"Yeah," he took a step. "Let's go."

"Wait, no!" Thomas suddenly shot forward a few steps ahead of them. "No. You guys stay here- I'll go talk to her. Maybe it's a trap or something. We'd be idiots to all go over there and fall right into it."

"Thomas, what does your freaking tattoo say again?" Cassandra hissed at him. "They should have called you the shuck suicide boy."

"We can't just walk on by without checking it out," he told them. "If something happens or gets suspicious, I'll call for help."

She opened her mouth to retort but Minho cut her off. "Okay, go. Our brave little shank."

He went over and whacked Thomas on the back, making the boy wince.

"This is bloody stupid," Newt said. "I'll go with him."

"No!" Thomas insisted. "Just let me do this. We need to be careful. If I cry like a baby, come save me."

"You better be bawling your eyes out," she snapped irritably at him.

Without a second glance in their direction, he took off and ran towards the small building in the distance. Cassandra clenched her teeth and turned to the others, trying to fight down the urge to go after him- to find out what was wrong.

"You sure about this?" Newt glanced at Minho.

"He wants to talk to his shuck girlfriend," he responded simply. "We'll just keep an eye out, make sure no one tries to drag him off."

The town in the distance continued to twinkle back at them, the light from tiny flames dancing amidst the darkness like ghost-lights. Gladers milled about as they waited, sitting on the ground or going about their own business. She wondered what was happening in the building, why Teresa wasn't rushing towards them in pure relief. Her foot kicked a piece of stone across the cracked ground and she looked up when the gust of wind suddenly picked up.

It swirled around them, blowing her hair about her face and she reached up to push the stray tendril from her eyes.

" _RUN!_ " Teresa's voice suddenly screamed in her mind. " _DON'T LOOK BACK! JUST RUN!_ "

She doubled over, as if she'd just been punched in the gut, and gasped for breath. Her knees and palms hit the hard dirt beneath her as pain shot through her head. Minho rushed to her side as she groaned in agony and Newt limped over to join them.

"What's wrong?" Minho asked her. "What's happening?"

"We need... to..." she panted and pushed herself back up despite her body protesting. "Shuck."

"What?" Newt looked at her with terrified eyes. "We need to what?"

"We need to-"

"RUN!" Thomas yelled, sprinting towards them from the building. Minho pulled her back onto her feet and held onto her arm firmly. "We need to go right now! As fast as possible, I'll explain later! We're in danger. We need to go! Now!"

He rambled all that at the top of his lungs then, without waiting for them, took off in the direction of the town. She turned to look back at the building, saw nothing, then Minho was pulling her to face him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes," she picked up her spear and readjusted her pack over her shoulder.

"Tommy!" Newt yelled after the boy. "Hey, slow down! Wait for us, ya bloody shank!"

She looked back at the building one more time, knew that Teresa was inside there, believing that she had to do what her friend told her to. Taking hold of Minho's hand, she pulled him along with her.

"Go! Just go!" she called to the others.

Footsteps started across the ground behind her, dust swirled back into the air as their boots stomped across the arid land. Frypan was yelling a million questions per second at her back but she kept her eyes trained on Thomas' figure in the distance.

"Cassie!" Minho yelled at her side. "What the shuck is goin' on?!"

"Teresa!" she yelled back so the others could hear her as well. "She was screaming in my head! Told me to run and not look back!"

"Why?!" Newt shouted.

"I don't know!" she replied. "Somethin' ain't right with her!"

"Cassie," Minho said, keeping his voice low. "Did she do something wrong?"

"I don't know," she repeated, a hint of despair in her tone. "But she sounded terrified."

They ran for ages, maybe even hours, and she was actually surprised that the others had managed to keep up with them for as long as they did. Minho and her were in the lead, a good distance from the rest of the group as their bodies were used to the mechanical movements. Thomas was still far off in front of them, never stopping or even looking back.

" _The girl_ ," Aris spoke into her mind. " _Why didn't she come with us?_ "

She hesitated, not quite sure whether she should let him in just yet, but there was something forlorn in his tone that pulled at her heartstrings.

" _I don't know. Maybe she's being controlled or manipulated. Beats me._ "

" _Can't you ask Thomas?_ " there was relief in his incorporeal voice.

" _I don't think he's up to speaking right at the moment_ ," she replied drily.

A few minutes later, Thomas finally stopped and plonked down on the ground. Minho and Cassandra reached him ahead of the rest, breathing heavily. She stopped, hands on her hips, while Minho circled the boy three times in speechless anger.

"What... why... what kind of shuck idiot are you, Thomas?" he finally managed to ask.

The boy didn't answer, just sat there and stared at the ground like he was waiting for it to open up to swallow him whole. Minho knelt down next to him.

"How could you just take off like that? Without explaining anything? Since when is that how we do things? You slinthead," he fell back onto the earth and she lowered herself to sit down too.

"Sorry," Thomas muttered. "It was kinda traumatising."

"Traumatising?" Minho repeated just as the rest of the Gladers caught up with them. Newt doubled over next to her, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead and staining the dirt beneath.

"What did Teresa do?" Cassandra asked. "I know she was there, she screamed in my head to run."

Thomas looked at her with a pained expression, something like affirmation in his dark eyes. He sighed and started to tell them everything that happened inside the building- Teresa warning him to stay away, crying and acting like how Gally did before he killed Chuck.

"Wait, what?" her head snapped up sharply. Did she just hear that correctly?

He opened his mouth and snapped it shut again as he looked at her with wide alarmed eyes. "Oh, crap..."

"Shuck," Minho shook his head. "Cassie..."

"What?" she stood back up and all eyes were suddenly on her. She raised her voice shrilly. " _What?_ "

"Cass," Newt reached out to her but she jerked away from him. His brown eyes tightened sadly at her silent rebuff. "We couldn't..."

"Shut up," she snapped, her eyes turning back to Minho and she held her finger up to silence whatever he had to say. Then she started to back away from them, over the flat barren ground. The Runner stood up, his eyes watching her in a mixture of helplessness and concern. "Shut up," she repeated.

Cassandra turned her back on them and walked another good distance away. Thomas was talking nonsense, right? No way what he said could have been true. Her hands started to tremble and she clenched them into tight fists until her knuckles turned white. She tried to control her breathing, felt something rise inside her and she fell onto the ground to heave dryly.

"Cassie!" Minho was on her in the next second.

"Get away from me!" she shrieked, lashing out and hitting him around the head. He winced and she could clearly see the hurt in his eyes but she couldn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth. "Don't touch me!"

She pushed herself off the ground and walked away again, taking in deep shallow breaths. Nothing made sense to her anymore. Gally killed Chuck? Why? It can't be true. She couldn't remember a single thing- what else were they hiding from her? Tremors continued to ravage her hands until it ran up her arms and she tried to clasp them together. She cursed and fell to her knees again, her entire body now quivering uncontrollably. Her lungs couldn't take in enough oxygen, as if they were drowning under water, and she felt like she was suffocating on the dusty air.

"Cassie!" she heard Minho call nearby, a desperate urgency in his tone.

Then everything came crashing back to her.

And she screamed.

* * *

The Gladers watched in shock as the girl collapsed onto the dirt and started convulsing violently. Thomas and Newt ran forwards to help Minho get her under control. She continued to scream in anguish, her skin burning feverishly under their touch. Thomas grabbed her legs, holding them down under his entire weight as the two other boys pinned her arms against the ground.

"Put her on her side!" Aris ran up to them. "Put her on her side, you'll hurt her like that!"

Minho looked at him, panic evident in his eyes, and it took a full moment for him to register what the boy had just said. He rolled Cassandra onto her side and hoped to God that her seizure would stop soon.

"I-Isn't this like..." Thomas started. "Like what happens when someone goes through the Changing?"

There was an uncertain pause before Newt replied. "Yeah... or when they're trying to control someone from telling us the truth."

"What's happening to her?" Aris asked. "Why is she doing that? Is it the Flare?"

If Minho hadn't been terrified before, he now was when Aris mentioned the possibility of the virus.

"Shuck..." he breathed. "No... it can't. The Rat Man said it takes a while for symptoms to show. She can't..."

"Slim it," Newt said then threw an angry glance at Aris. "She's just having another one of her episodes like back in the Glade."

"Not like this, dude, it's never been like this," Minho told him. "She's not even saying anything, she looks like she's in a lot of pain."

"What do we do?" Thomas asked helplessly.

"We just have to wait it out," Aris said. "Seizures can last a few minutes."

"She's burning up," Newt said. Then all of a sudden she stopped and Minho was turning her onto her back again. Her lips had gone deathly pale, a bluish tinge underneath the chapped skin. They all felt the wave of dread as the colour completely seeped out of her face. "Now she's ice cold."

"Shuck!" Minho yelled, grabbing hold of her shoulders and leaned his head against her chest. "She's not breathing!"

"CPR! You gotta give her CPR!" Aris was shouting as he dropped onto the ground next to them. "Minho, pinch her nose and breathe into her mouth, then pump her chest. Try to get her blood circulating again."

"When the hell did you become a freaking Med-jack?" Minho shot back angrily in his panic.

"Minho, do what he says," Newt told him. "Quickly, while she still has-"

The boy was already doing what Aris had told him, tilting her head back and pressing his mouth against her cold lifeless lips. He blew twice and her chest expanded with air before he straightened up, pressing down against her sternum with the heel of his hand rhythmically for a couple of minutes.

"Shuck, Cassie," his voice came out in a strained whisper and he bent down to breathe into her mouth again. "Come on."

He started another round of pumping and Thomas collapsed backwards, staring wordlessly. Two more minutes passed as Minho continued his chest compressions on the girl and it felt like all the hope in the world had abandoned them.

"Cassie. Cassie, please," he started to beg, his own chest on the verge of exploding.

"Minho..." Newt started, his voice soft.

"Stop it, don't," the boy retorted, his face scrunched up with heartbreaking distress and veins popped up along his arms like a trail of ivy. "Don't."

"It's been five minutes," Thomas said numbly.

"Shut the hell up, Thomas," Minho snapped and bent down to press his mouth against hers again.

Aris suddenly cried out just as Minho pulled away, pointing at where he had seen her fingers twitch. Cassandra gasped, her eyes flying wide open as she took in a deep rasping breath of air. She shot up from the ground, spots erupting in her vision for a couple of seconds, before she looked around in bewilderment.

Minho was already grabbing her, pulling her against his chest, squeezing her tightly in his arms.

"Cassie, shuck, Cassie," he exhaled in relief onto her neck.

She reached up weakly, her fingers catching onto his jacket before falling back down to the ground limply. Aris toppled backwards, as if he'd just come back to life himself, and Newt buried his face in his hands in silent thanks.

Cassandra blinked several times and pushed herself away, looking up at Minho's still distraught face. She stared at him for a long moment then, as if the past ten excruciating minutes had never existed, she opened her mouth to ask hoarsely.

"What happened?"


	10. RHESUS

**ACT II SCENE X**  
 **RHESUS**

* * *

 _ **THE FIRST TIME SHE** laid her eyes on him, she knew they would never get along. His entire body was covered in bruises and bandages, even his face had them. When he saw her, he called her ugly and pinched her painfully on the arm.  
_

 _The second time she went to visit him, she cried on the plane and couldn't believe her parents were forcing her to go with them. He gave her a flower when he saw her, a yellow daisy, but she knew it was only because his parents made him do it. The next day, he stole her favourite toy and broke it._

 _Their parents brought them on a summer holiday together to somewhere with a large lake. She pushed him in after he dropped a frog down the back of her shirt._

 _When they met again the following year, he kissed her on the lips and she emptied her glass of apple juice on his head._

 _After that, he wrote their names together on a piece of paper and she cut it out into a heart._

 _Then the world was gone._

* * *

"You died."

Cassandra blinked her eyes closed and looked back at Minho's dust stained face. She brushed her fingers across it, smudging more dirt onto his cheek and felt her heart ache at the anguish behind his words. Then she leaned her head against his shoulder and fell asleep from fatigue.

She woke up curled against him under a sheet despite the sweltering heat that surrounded them on all sides. A thin layer of perspiration was already coating their skin and she felt his thumb brush against the side of her face.

"Hey," he whispered, gazing at her with weary eyes.

"Hey," she smiled back, her heart swelling at the sight of him.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah," she tried to keep her eyelids open. "You?"

"I am now," he told her and leaned in to kiss her lips softly. It was different from the usual heated way he kissed her that sent sparks igniting in every atom of her being; but sad and forlorn, like the empty plains that stretched out around them.

She pulled away and stroked his face. her voice coming out shaky. "Minho, I'm sorry."

He shushed her gently. "There's nothing for you to apologise for."

But she felt like there was, everything was her fault. The intrusively irrational thought came out of nowhere, startling her briefly. Minho pressed his lips against hers again, slow and melancholic, like he was trying to engrave it to memory. It made her chest hurt; her heart felt like it was going to fracture into two.

She sorely wanted to ask him why he was acting this way, what made him change from the passionate boy that never hesitated to take what he wanted. But she was afraid; she didn't want whatever it was that happened to happen again. The only thing she could do was to hold him close to her and hope that it would go away soon.

"Minho, I trust you," she murmured and he stroked her hair. "Whatever it is, I trust you."

She felt his sigh against her skin and he kissed her again, like he was telling himself that it was going to be okay.

"Promise you won't leave me," he whispered.

"Never," she shook her head earnestly, drawing him into her arms. "I would never."

"I don't know what I'd do without you," he pressed his cheek against hers.

"Me neither," she looked at him, willing him to believe her implicitly. "I care about you more than anything."

"Me too, Cassie..." he ran his fingers gently through her tangled hair, eyes dark and intent. "Me too."

This time when he locked lips with her, it was his usual breathtaking kiss and she pressed herself against him to deepen it even further. She wanted to dispel whatever dark thoughts he may have had previously, to take them away like the blackouts she had that made her forget so much. Minho, giving her that crooked smirk of his, eyes sparkling with wit, that was how she always wanted him to be.

He pulled away and he was smiling now, gripping the edge of the sheet over them.

"You ready?" he asked and she groaned.

The Scorch and their mission was the farthest thing from her mind right then, but she could feel the heat beating down on them and knew that it was already a few hours since the break of dawn. She really didn't want to go back out there but she knew that they had to. Sighing, she nodded her head begrudgingly and he gave one more peck on the lips before ripping the sheet off.

They were back in hell.

Cassandra squinted her eyes and turned, looking around the flat terrain. A few of the Gladers were already up, having breakfast, and a few others were still lying on the ground. Minho stood up and clapped his hands to rouse them back to life.

"Okay, guys, whoever hasn't eaten, do it now," he called. "We're heading back out there right after everyone's done."

She sat up and pulled their pack towards them as Minho rejoined her on the ground. They pulled out a couple of fruits; they were already starting to turn soft from the heat so they had to consume them quickly. The juice quenched the aching thirst in her throat and she only thought about it just then that they should have saved the dry food for later. That was such a bad mistake; she'd seen a few of the boys snacking on them yesterday. It could have saved them more water.

A jolt suddenly ran through her body and she stiffened as a whisper echoed in her head.

" _Why didn't you die?!_ " the voice hissed furiously. " _Why won't you just die?!_ "

She buried her face in her hands and clenched her teeth.

"Cassie? Are you okay?" Minho asked and there was panic underneath his concern.

"I'm fine, it's just the sun," she said, trying to make her voice sound as normal as possible. "I'll feel better in a minute."

"Okay," he returned with some relief, but she knew he was watching her.

" _Just die!_ " the voice screamed and she dug her fingers into her scalp.

" _Leave me alone!_ " she yelled back. " _Get out of my head! Get out! Get out! Get out!_ "

" _I'll kill you. I swear I will, I'll kill you._ "

She took a deep shuddering breath and tried to block the voice out. Her brain started to hurt, a deep ache spreading from the front of her brain.

" _Cass?_ " Thomas was calling in her mind and his voice was laced with fear. " _What was that? **Who** was that?_ "

She looked up and saw him staring at her with wide eyes full of apprehension from the other side of the group. Her eyes shut close again as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

" _I don't know,_ " she replied. " _You could hear that?_ "

" _Yeah, as clear as day_ ," he told her and she immediately scanned the group for the other boy.

Aris didn't seem like he had heard too as he was enjoying his pear next to Greg. That was so bizarre and annoying at the same time. She shook her head, feeling dizzy as the pain persisted. Minho took her wrist to lower her hand and she turned her pained eyes up to him.

"You are not okay," he stated. "What's wrong?"

Sweat was already starting to pour down her temple and she wiped it away with her other hand. She hesitated to tell him, not wanting him to worry about her any more than was necessary. But a mysterious voice inside her head just told her to die and threatened her life. Minho would be furious from being kept in the dark about that. She bit her lip and tried to plead him with her eyes.

"Don't freak out, okay?" she started.

"Cassie, what's wrong?" he repeated the question.

She took a deep breath and expelled it shakily. "The voice in my head wants to kill me."

"The what wants to what?" he frowned.

"I heard it too," Thomas suddenly dropped down next to them and Minho turned to stare at him incredulously.

"You can hear everything that goes through her head now?" he asked almost angrily.

"No, it was a voice as in the telepathy thing," the boy shrank away from the Runner's wrath. "I still can't read people's thoughts. Although I probably don't need it to know that you look like you wanna kill me. Chill out, Minho."

"No, there is no chill, Thomas," Minho snapped. "We're in the middle of a freaking desert."

"Oh, yeah."

"Guys, shut up, my head hurts," Cassandra groaned.

"Why is there a secret gathering without me?" Newt came over and joined them in a small circle.

"Someone just threatened to kill Cass," Thomas immediately told him.

"Thomas, you have the biggest shucking mouth I have ever known," she growled at him.

"You can't keep this to yourself," he told her. "You almost died yesterday, well technically you did and came back to life, and now someone actually wants you dead. This isn't a coincidence- plus, what does your tattoo say?"

Her eyes flicked up to glare at him menacingly before turning to Minho with agitated worry. One of the things she adored about him was his protective streak and he was definitely not going to let this go. She didn't want to have to drop another burden on his shoulders, he had enough responsibility leading the group and getting them through this whole mess alive.

"It's just a voice," she said quickly. "It can make all the threats it wants, but it can't hurt me."

"But you don't know where that voice is coming from," Thomas shot back. "Maybe it's from WICKED's headquarters, watching us. Controlling us."

"Shut up, Thomas," she grumbled angrily.

"He's right," Minho turned to her with a hard gaze. "We need to be careful. _You_ need to be careful, Cassie. They can manipulate us anytime; you heard what that Rat Man said."

She fingered a loose thread on her pants and sighed. "I know, I will."

"Did you recognise who the shank was though?" Newt asked.

Cassandra blinked and paused as she realised that she did. Her eyes widened and she turned to them with an ashen expression.

"It's the same one that told me I was a mistake," she said.

Minho swore under his breath beside her and Thomas looked a little confused.

"Well, looks like we have a motive," Newt said.

"That doesn't shucking help," Minho exclaimed.

"It told you that you were a mistake?" Thomas frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Thomas, if I knew the answer to that, we wouldn't be freaking out over it," she told him. "I hadn't heard it for a while so I thought it was just WICKED trying to get into my head, part of a Variable or something."

"But it's not..." he said slowly. "Someone actually wants you dead."

Minho suddenly stood up, rearranging their pack and whipping out the sheet.

"We need to go," he told them then raised his voice. "Everyone, pack up and let's go!"

They scrambled to get up and Cassandra shot the two other boys a look. "Don't tell anyone else," she said. "I don't want them to worry about a potential murderer on the loose."

"Yeah, we won't," Newt said and she shot a glance at Thomas.

"Thomas."

"Okay, I won't," he eyed her with concern. "But you need to be extra careful."

"Sure, fine, thanks," she muttered. "C'mon."

There was a flurry of activity around them as everyone got ready and then they were starting off again in the direction of the town. It was a lot closer now and she hoped that they'd be able to reach it by nightfall.

Their dwindling supplies was noticeable as they trudged on, taking a few breaks in between. Less people had to walk in pairs and more sheets were wrapped around sweaty bedraggled bodies. Winston seemed to be doing better now, but she didn't know how long they'd be able to last with so little water. This was only the second day.

She had gone up to Winston during one of their breaks and he told her, almost deliriously, about all the good times they had back in the Glade. It made her raise an eyebrow and look to Jack who revealed that it's been all he talked about since. Cassandra frowned in concern before returning to her spot.

Minho held an arm around her whenever he could or gripped her wrist firmly in his hand, as if something might steal her away at a moment's notice. She was right about that protective streak.

The sun started to dip towards the horizon and they wouldn't be able to reach the town that day. It was so close though; she was sure that if they walked for two or three more hours maybe-

Laughter.

She thought she heard it then, a child laughing, and her skin rose with goose bumps. A sudden gust of wind blew past them, sending her hair flying in all directions and it was like it was carrying the sound along with it.

Her breath caught in her throat and she looked around at the others, then to Minho. Nobody seemed to have noticed it, not even Thomas. Was it just her imagination?

" _Soyun._ "

She hugged herself and felt her heart race at the haunting sound.

It was just her imagination, she told herself. She was just imagining it.

" _Where are we going?_ " it was definitely a child's voice, a boy.

" _Just over to the hill there, look. We'll get a better view of the place,_ " came a young girl's reply.

It was like the Scorch was bringing her memories to life and she swallowed. She recognised the voices were Minho and herself when they were young. Another memory, perhaps, slipping through to her consciousness.

Soyun.

That used to be her name.

Minho stopped next to her and she realised that night had fallen on them. The wind whipped around them strongly now, sending sheets fluttering in the air, and he was stopping them to get some more rest. She turned to look at the buildings and the flashes of swaying fire in the distance. Rest, and then they'd make the last stretch to the town.

When Minho wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her away to sleep, she didn't protest.

* * *

Her dreams that night were swirls of chaos and confusion. She was running, but she had no idea from what. There was just a cold sick feeling of urgency in her gut as her feet tore against the ground. A black cloud shrouded her, following her, and she reached out to grab an outstretched hand.

" _RUN! DON'T LOOK BACK! JUST RUN!_ "

Cassandra shot up from the ground and her eyelids flew open just in time to catch her sheet from floating away. Gales of wind blustered around them and the sky hung darkly overhead. She looked around in bewilderment, momentarily lost in blind panic, and found that she was the only one to have woken up. Her hair whipped all around her face, fluttering in a wild frenzy about her head.

Dust and loose dirt billowed about in puffs of solid smoke, making her squint and shield her eyes with an arm. Her heart thudded against her chest as she remembered a fact about desert storms and flash floods.

"Minho," she bent down to shake him.

He woke almost immediately and looked at her with wide eyes. A layer of grime covered half his face and he rubbed it away with his sleeve. He sat up and looked around with the same bewilderment that she did before, then towards the town in the distance.

The squall seemed to have picked up its pace at finding them awake and she had to grip the sheet tightly in her hands to keep it from escaping. It roared against her ears, making it difficult to make any other sounds out.

"I think we need to go!" she shouted to him and he nodded.

"Let's get them up!" he yelled back. "Have something quick to eat!"

Cassandra stood up and tied her sheet tightly around her waist then rummaged through her pack. She had gotten Frypan to rearrange the supplies again and most of the quick perishables had been consumed. There were only two apples left with all the granola bars and biscuits.

She handed a bar to Minho and quickly wedged one between her teeth as she jogged over to wake Newt. They went around, trying to get the others to rise as well and she quickly handed food to them to save time shouting out instructions.

Thomas was the last to get up, rubbing his dirt-encrusted face, and Minho headed over to him. She picked up her spear and stayed next to Newt as he finished up his meagre breakfast. When everyone was ready to go, they set off for the town that was finally within their reach.

A couple of miles before the first buildings, they spotted an old withered man wrapped up in blankets lying on the ground. She thought he must be a Crank, sores and scabs decorated his dark cracked skin. But he was staring emptily up at the sky as if waiting for some kind of deliverance and she gripped her spear tightly in her hand.

"Hey! Old man!" Minho shouted once they got near enough. "What're you doing out here?"

It didn't seem like he had heard him, or even noticed their group's approach. She frowned agitatedly. "You think this was the old man the Cranks were warning us about earlier? Doesn't look that mean to me."

Thomas nudged past them and went down on his knees next to the man. He waved his hand in front of the guy's face and there was a slow blinking response.

"This guy's a bloody gold mine if we can get him to tell us stuff about the city," Newt said loudly as he knelt down next to Thomas. "Looks harmless, probably knows what to expect when we go in there."

"Yeah, but he doesn't seem to be able to hear us," Thomas gestured. "Much less have a conversation."

"Keep trying," Minho told him. "You're officially our foreign ambassador, Thomas. Get the dude to open up and tell us about the good ol' days."

Thomas moved closer and bent down close to the man's head. "Sir? We really need your help. We need you to tell us if it's safe to go inside the city. We can carry you if you need help yourself. Sir? Sir!"

Cassandra crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Look, I don't think he's even lucid enough to give us anything," she said.

Then the man's eyes slowly shifted to the side, soulless pits latching onto Thomas' face. He opened his mouth and a small cough grounded out. The boy started hopefully.

"My name is Thomas! These are my friends. We've been walking through the desert for a couple of days now, and we need water and food. What do you-"

The old man's eyes started to flick back and forth between them with slight panic.

"It's okay, we won't hurt you," Thomas quickly said as soothingly as he could. "We're the good guys. But we'd really appreciate it if-"

Suddenly, a wrinkled hand shot out from underneath the blankets and clenched tightly around the boy's arm. Cassandra pointed the tip of her spear down in a knee-jerk reaction and Minho grabbed her before she could accidentally pierce the man's face.

"Whoa, Cassie, hold on!" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Thomas yelled, struggling to free his arm, but it was like the man was holding him with an iron brace.

His mouth opened again and there was a rasping sound like sandpaper grinding against each other as he tried to speak.

"What'd you say?" Thomas shouted, leaning in once more as he relaxed. Again, the man tried to tell them something. "One more time!"

Then the man shot up from the ground, eyes opening wide until his pupils were little round dots against bulging white. His body started swaying back and forth like he was possessed, shouting a single word repeatedly with an incredibly frightening fervour.

"Storm! Storm! Storm!"

And the air bellowed around them, sending unsuspecting sheets soaring into the black sky.


	11. BELLEROPHON

**ACT II SCENE XI**  
 **BELLEROPHON**

* * *

 **HER HEART STARTED TO HAMMER** inside her chest and she took a step closer to Minho, fingers reaching out to curl around his arm. All around them, the storm continued to roar with increasing ferocity and they had to lean against the gusts of wind to keep themselves from flying along with the sheets. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer in the direction of the town, waving his hand in the air for the others to follow.

They gathered, huddling together in the whirling cold, and Minho pointed towards the city remains. "Let's go!" he yelled loudly and started to take off, his hands gripping hers tightly. From behind, she could hear the old man wail towards the sky before abruptly cutting himself off.

Dust and grit pelted against her skin, scratching them raw in the melee. It was all around them now like a hurricane, even squinting her eyes did nothing to shield them from being irritated by the tiny particles. The haze enveloped them whole, making it almost impossible to make anything out except for blurs of shadows that were meant to be Gladers and the occasional flicker of flames from further within the city.

Her heart jumped up to her throat when a mouse suddenly flew past in front of her and smacked into a wall on her right. Then a piece of paper hit her in the face before being whisked away by the howling wind once more. She held her arm up and swatted at another stray piece of parchment picked up by the storm.

There was a loud crack above them and a flash of lightning overhead- too close for comfort. It streaked across the sky and singed the ground, throwing soil up into the air as it dug a small crater into the earth. Minho tightened his hold on her hand and urged her to run faster.

Thomas was in front of them, picking Newt up as the blonde stumbled to the ground, then Frypan a little while after that. The thunder and wind and crashes of lightning was deafening, her ears were starting to ring painfully. This wasn't natural, she thought. It felt like the storm was chasing them down, targeting them.

She opened her mouth to scream, inhaling a wave of dust that burned her throat and made her choke instead. A fork of lightning had struck the ground ahead of them in front of Thomas, sending the boy flying backwards and Minho skidded to a halt in front of her. Her eyes roamed the scene but it was difficult to make anything out, there was something squirming across the ground.

Minho suddenly whirled around to grab her face, turning her at the same time so that her back faced the large crater up ahead and leaned in to shout in her ear. She barely made out the words coming out of his mouth; she thought her eardrums were bleeding at that point.

"DON'T LOOK! WHATEVER HAPPENS, JUST KEEP LOOKING AT ME."

He leaned back and waited for her to respond.

"CASSIE?! DON'T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF ME, OKAY?!"

What? Why? What was happening? She wanted to ask but it was impossible so she just nodded her head instead. Minho knew what was best for her... right?

They continued to dash forwards once more and Minho paused to pick Thomas off the ground, yelling something at the other boy. She kept her eyes on him just as he asked, smelling copper and smoke in the air as the wind cut into her like tiny imperceptible daggers.

Minho didn't wait as he pulled her along once more, towards the buildings that loomed overhead out of the oppressive cloud. She saw Newt running ahead of them, blonde hair darting in and out of the thick brown fog.

Then a jarring white light pierced the air in front of them, hurling her backwards in a burst of heat and pain. It took the breath completely out of her lungs and she gasped for oxygen, her head spinning as she started seeing double vision. She scrambled off the ground, clutching her side; it felt like a truck had crashed into her ribs. Her feet stumbled from side to side as she swayed with disorientation before grounding herself firmly.

Tendrils of red and orange danced in front of her and she squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing with a hand to force them back into focus. It was fire.

Dropping to the ground, writhing.

Thomas ran over, collapsed beside it and started scooping soil to put it out.

It was Minho, his clothes aflame.

She thought her heart had come to a jolting stop at the realisation, only to come back to life with frightening intensity. Her feet raced to him automatically, her hands already reaching for her pack and she hoped that she could find what she was looking for. The water bag had already loosened but there was still some left and she threw the rest onto Minho with a yell that was drowned out by another crack of thunder. The remaining flames fizzled out and her knees hit the ground, hands reaching out for his face as he groaned in pain. Or was he wailing? She couldn't tell.

Angry red burns and welts had spread across his skin, clothes singed stiff with carbon. Horror and relief mixed together in a tight ball inside her chest, making her insides wring themselves excruciatingly.

Thomas pulled him up. "We need to go! Now!" he was yelling but she could only understand from reading his lips. They wrapped Minho's arms around their necks and ran again with only one single thought in mind.

Cassandra pushed her body to its limit and beyond, eyes set on their destination. Lightning exploded all around them like an air raid, causing the ground beneath them to tremor. Debris fell from the buildings like an avalanche of death, dust continued to sting and the clouds above darkened to a solid black ceiling.

Newt came back into her view, along with Frypan and Aris. They were ahead of everyone else. Suddenly, Minho's legs buckled and she crashed to the ground with him as she clung to his shirt tightly. Her ribs were definitely bruised at how much it hurt to even breathe and she struggled to get Minho back to his feet. Thomas started back to help them again just as a flash shot right above their heads into the earth behind them. There was no time to take in anything; refuge was just another hundred meters away from them.

Aris was first to reach the building in front. The glass of the door had been broken and he quickly smashed the rest of the jagged edges on the sides. He waved Newt and Frypan through, along with a couple other kids, before running in himself.

Cassandra and Thomas finally reached the threshold and Newt darted out to assist. They pulled Minho inside the dark interior of the building and laid him on the floor to the side. She wrapped her sheet around his body and collapsed next to him.

Then the rain started to pour down outside as tears spilled over her cheeks.

* * *

She sat bent over her knees and face resting on the back of her hands next to Minho. All she could do was to concentrate on getting her breath back but every time she inhaled, pain seared through her side. Someone placed a hand on her back, checking if she was alright. She couldn't tell who it was- Newt, perhaps.

After a while, she finally managed to lift her head up and looked at Minho. He was obviously in pain by the way his face was crumpled and there were so many burn marks across his skin under the charred clothes. She heard the pelt of water droplets outside and her hands gripped the pack still slung loosely around her shoulder.

Pushing herself up with painstaking effort, she clutched her wounded side and threw whatever was inside her pack onto the floor noisily. Thomas watched her with questioning eyes as he leaned against the wall next to Minho. Then using her teeth, she untied the knots before grabbing hold of an edge on the wall to haul herself up to her feet with her face scrunched up in pain.

"Cass...?" Newt called softly but she didn't have enough energy to reply.

She dragged her feet across the floor, towards the open door and stood just beneath the roof to wash her hands. Then she soaked half of the sheet and carefully brought herself back inside. Lowering herself to the ground once more, she gently started to tug Minho's jacket off. It was hard work and he winced every now and then which made her feel terrible. But she managed to get it off to clean his wounds and press the cold damp cloth against the burns.

Finally, when she was done, she pulled the other sheet over him again and looked around at the others. It didn't seem like anyone else had been singed by lightning or combusted into flames. She folded the sheet neatly to tuck under his head and pulled herself to huddle against the wall next to Thomas.

"Are you okay?" he asked her worriedly. "You keep holding on to your side. Let me take a look at it."

"It's... fine," she grunted out before groaning slightly.

"That totally does not sound fine," he told her and peeled her hand away.

She flinched, tensing her body as another sharp pain shot through her nerves. Thomas gingerly pulled up her shirt and gasped softly, prompting her to look down herself. A gigantic splotch of purplish blue spilled across her skin and painted her entire side. She let out a small groan of frustration.

"Touch it," she told him. "Is anything broken?"

He pressed his fingertips softly against her battered body and shook his head.

"Feels normal to me," he said and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Get... your hands... off her," Minho growled nearby.

Thomas immediately drew back and scooted a couple inches away for good measure. She dragged herself closer to Minho.

"Does it hurt?" she asked him quietly.

"I should be asking you that," he murmured. "Thanks for taking care of me."

"I'm okay," she said even though she winced at the same time. "Just get some rest."

"You too, Cassie," he whispered before his eyelids fell shut.

She went back to the wall and curled herself into a ball. The drum of rain outside soon lulled her to sleep and she slipped away into sweet unconsciousness.


	12. DICTYS

**ACT II SCENE XII**  
 **DICTYS**

* * *

 _ **ABANDONED CARS WERE PILED** up on the road as they crossed it with backs hunched down in caution. They flitted from vehicle to vehicle as they drew nearer to the abandoned rectangular shopping mart close by. A few bodies lay scattered around the concrete, covered in dried blood and already halfway to decomposition._

 _The sharp sound of glass splintering against a wall made them freeze in their tracks and dart behind the building. The young girl crawled her way to the shattered window and peeked inside. There was a skinny boy, almost their age, backing away from two men across the room. One was thin, almost frail looking, with bloodshot eyes and a half shaved head. The other was a bear of a man, his body was probably the size of a fully matured tree trunk and his arms weren't much different._

 _The boy next to her tugged on her shirt and cocked his head to the side._

 _"Leave 'em," he muttered. "We'll go the other way. There might be supplies at the back."_

 _She ducked her head down and crouched low, grabbing hold of his arm before he could walk away._

 _"No, he needs helps," she hissed._

 _"Did you see them properly?" he shot back. "They'll take you out with one hit."_

 _A crash suddenly erupted from inside and a voice yelled out. Someone laughed, a deep whooping sound that was undeniably insane. She gripped his arm imperatively and drew the gun from her back pocket._

 _"Cover me!" she said and jumped through the window before he had a chance to stop her._

 _She shot twice, one found its mark in the frail man's head and the other into the thick shoulder of the bear man. He whirled around; setting his crazed eyes on her and took a step forward menacingly. The girl held her gun up to fire again but the man was lunging at her with a furious howl. She stumbled backwards, tripping over the edge of a fallen shelf and crashed to the floor._

 _Her gun clattered against the dirty tiles as she rolled to the side, narrowly escaping from being flattened by the gigantic man. His hand managed to grab hold of her ankle and pulled her back. He lifted a fist up to pummel her but another shot cracked through the air and a bullet tore through the back of the man's head._

 _The skinny boy darted forwards to haul her away just as the man dropped forwards to the ground. She panted, quickly retrieving her gun back, and scrambled to a stand._

 _"You idiot!" the boy yelled at her as he climbed through the window. "Are you freaking crazy?!"_

 _"T-thanks..." the skinny boy stammered. "I-I would have been a goner if you guys hadn't saved me."_

 _She turned to him and rubbed her forehead. "I couldn't walk away."_

 _"Great, Soyun saves the day," her friend rolled his eyes. "You're a freaking superhero. Let's go. Who knows how many of them are lurking around the place?"_

 _"We can't just leave him here," she protested before turning back to the skinny boy. "Are you alone? Did you get separated?"_

 _"Well... I was with someone," he gestured to the corner on their left. A blonde woman lied on the ground, her head drenched in blood like it was cracked open. "We came from the eastern settlement."_

 _"You what?" the other young boy looked to him with interest now. "Why?"_

 _"It's overrun by Cranks," he told them. "We managed to get away and were heading towards the next one. It's about two hundred miles from here."_

 _"Do you know the way?" she eyed him warily._

 _"Yeah, I got a map," he said. "Let me go with you. Safety in numbers, right?"_

 _They exchanged glances with one another before she turned back to him again with a frown._

 _"How much can you defend yourself out there?"_

 _He shrugged his narrow bony shoulders. "I can use a gun, if that's what you mean." Then he went towards the woman and patted around her jacket before pulling out a pistol from the back. "She won't be needing this anymore."_

 _"Who was she?" the girl asked._

 _"I'm not sure," he frowned and shrugged again. "Used to be military. We just stayed in the same place."_

 _"Lucky you they went for her first," the boy pointed. "Anyway, let's pick up whatever crap we can find and head back out."_

 _She nodded and turned around when she heard a snicker from outside the window and froze. Whirling back around, she found that the two other boys had heard it too. It returned, a little muffled this time like the person was pressing their hands against their mouth. With a disgusted scowl, she stomped over and aimed her gun over the window. A face peered up at her, gaunt and yellow. The woman opened her gaping mouth at her with rotten teeth like chips of wood nailed to her gums, and made a low moaning sound from the back of her throat._

 _Soyun pulled the trigger._

* * *

She woke up to the light of dawn filtering down on her face and she could see the specks of desert dust floating in the air trying desperately to find home again. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned and stretched, then immediately let out a loud pained whine as she realised how bad of an idea that was. Her side still ached like freaking shuck and it was all she could do to push herself to a sitting position and lean against the wall.

Then she looked up to find Newt and Thomas staring at her.

"I feel like crap," she moaned hoarsely.

"What happened to you?" the blonde asked.

"Minho flew into her and bruised her ribs," Thomas answered. "Saw it happen before I got thrown back myself."

Newt snorted. "Always thought he had too much muscle for his own good. Then what happened to him?"

"Lightning somehow caught his clothes on fire. Don't know how it did that without frying his brain though but we managed to put it out before it did too much damage. I think."

"Before it did too much damage?" New raised an eyebrow. "I'd hate to see what you think real damage looks like."

Minho started with a long, drawn-out groan of agony. She reached her arm out but was too tired to actually drag herself any closer, and just about managed to poke him in the cheek.

"Oh, man," he rasped as he opened his eyes and looked at them. "I'm shucked. I'm shucked for good."

"Don't be such a baby," she told him. "I'm in no state to kiss you better."

"A kiss _would_ be nice," he grimaced.

"How bad is it?" Newt asked.

Minho pushed himself up into a sitting position, grunting unhappily as he did so. Finally, he dragged himself next to Cassandra and leaned against the wall with his knees up. He took her hand and interlaced his fingers through hers.

"Can't be too bad if you can do that," Thomas smirked slyly.

"Shuck it," he replied. "I'm tougher than nails. I could still kick your pony-lovin' butt with twice this pain."

"I do love ponies. Wish I could eat one right now."

As if to prove his point, his stomach grumbled right then.

"Was that a joke?' Minho asked in disbelief. "Did Thomas the boring slinthead actually make a joke?"

"I think he did," Newt responded.

"I'm a funny guy."

Cassandra scoffed a laugh. "You're hilarious."

Minho stroked the back of her hand with his thumb and she saw his expression grew morose as he finally took in the sight of the other Gladers. Most of them were lying down, still asleep; a couple had started to get up when they started talking.

"How many?" he asked.

"Twelve," she said softly.

"So, what, six died in the storm? Seven?" Minho looked up as he counted in his head.

"Seven," Newt snapped at him, frowning at his insensitivity. Then he looked back down and his voice softened. "Unless they went into a different building."

Cassandra found herself perking up at the thought. It didn't sound that far-fetched to be unbelievable, and they were all heading in the same direction anyway. She didn't want to believe any of them had perished in the storm.

"Dude," Minho started. "How're we gonna fight our way through the city with only twelve people? There could be hundreds of Cranks in this place for all we know. Thousands, even. We don't have a clue what to expect from them!"

She looked up to scan the rest of the building they were in. It was tall, rising to about eight floors perhaps, everything broken down except for its steel infrastructure keeping the entire thing standing. There was something, a glint, coming from the third floor like light reflecting off a smooth surface and she blinked at it.

The boys continued talking.

"What about the people who died, Minho? Jack's missing. So is Winston- he never had a chance. And I don't see Stan or Tim. What about them?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slim it nice and calm, brother. I didn't ask to be the shuck leader. You wanna cry all day about what's happened, fine. But that's not what a leader does. A leader figures out where to go and what to do after it's done."

She thought it was so funny; Minho had always been a leader even back in the Glade but he was acting as if it was totally new territory to him.

"Well, guess that's why you got the job then. Whatever. Seriously, sorry. I just..."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, too."

She didn't have to look at him to see the eye roll that accompanied his apology. Aris came over to join them then, asking about the authenticity of the storm. Thomas didn't think it was real, and she agreed with him.

A piece of loose debris suddenly fell through the hole in the ceiling and her eyes followed as it broke against the floor.

"Least it's over. We better start thinking about what we're gonna do next," Newt shrugged.

"See," Minho said pointedly. "You're just as heartless as I am. And you're right."

"Yeah, we better figure things out before we have a bunch of crazies show up," Thomas said. "But I'm telling you, we gotta eat first. We gotta find food."

"Food?!"

A face suddenly popped over the edge of the floor above where she had seen the reflection of light. Cassandra started violently before jumping up and drawing her knife in another spontaneous reaction, wincing at the massive sting in her side. Minho grabbed hold of the hem of her jacket and shouted upwards. "Who're you?!"

The man jumped down like some kind of acrobatic swimmer diving into a pool, then balled himself up at the last moment to roll on the floor in front of them. He sprang up and held his arms out, as if demonstrating his talent in front of a panel of judges. A Hispanic man, wearing a loose red shirt underneath a worn black jacket with faded jeans.

"My name is Jorge," he spoke with a noticeable accent. "And I'm the Crank who rules this place."

His dark eyes swivelled to land on her and she stared him down coldly.


	13. AUTOLYCUS

**ACT II SCENE XIII  
AUTOLYCUS**

* * *

 **THE MAN SMILED AT HER,** looking like he was impressed by her boldness. He looked ridiculous- too flamboyant- for her liking. Did he just say he was a Crank? Her face changed to a confused scowl as she stared back at him.

"Looks like we have a lioness on the prowl," he said. "One lioness to protect her baby cubs?"

The man snickered and she felt the annoyance bubble into a murderous rage inside her chest. She took a step forward, gripping her knife tightly, and felt hands reach out to grab her. Thomas pulled her away, forcing her back down to the floor with a furious hiss. "Are you crazy? Do you wanna get us all killed?!"

She shot him a glare over her shoulder and shrugged him off but remained on the ground. The man, Jorge, snickered at them again.

"Are you scared of the Cranks?" he asked mockingly. "Scared we'll drag you to the ground and eat your eyeballs out? Mmm, tasty. I love a good eyeball when the grub's runnin' short. Tastes like undercooked eggs."

She snorted. "Really? I thought they tasted more like chicken."

Thomas shushed her. Jorge smirked widely and she glowered back. There was just something completely off about him and she didn't like it.

"You admit you're a Crank?" Minho raised his voice with a hard edge. "That you're freaking crazy?"

"He just said he likes the taste of eyeballs," Frypan commented. "I think that qualifies as crazy."

"Come, come, my new friends," Jorge laughed menacingly. "I'd only eat your eyes if you were already dead. Course, I might help you get that way if I needed to. Understand what I'm saying?"

His face fell into an impenetrable mask, a look of warning taking place on his features. Cassandra narrowed her eyes and examined the man; he didn't look like a Crank that's been living in waste.

"How many of you are here?" Newt asked.

"How many? How many Cranks?" Jorge turned to him. "We're all Cranks around here, hermano."

"That's not what I meant and you know it," the blonde replied with a hint of annoyance.

Jorge started to pace amongst them and their eyes followed his every movement warily. He started talking about the Flare, WICKED and the government leaving them there to rot with the disease, letting them kill each other or slip further into insanity. He stopped next to Minho and looked down.

"But you weren't sent here to die like the rest of us," he said in a low voice. "Those who speak first are at a disadvantage. I want to know what in God's name your purpose could be, why you're here, where you came from. Now."

"We're at a disadvantage?" Minho sneered up at him. "Unless that lightning storm fried my retinas, I'd say there are twelve of us against one of you. Maybe you should start talking."

She watched as the man's face dropped back to that smooth emotionless façade. "You didn't just say that to me, did you? Please tell me you didn't just speak to me like a dog. You have ten seconds to apologize."

She felt Thomas and Newt grab hold of her arms on both sides to restrain her, their eyes wide with fear. Minho looked over to them with a smirk and Jorge started counting down. Thomas shook his head at the boy and gave him a look of warning.

"Five. Six."

"Do it!" he said urgently and glanced upwards.

"Seven. Eight."

Her eyes flicked up instinctively and she thought she saw more movement from the floors above. Minho must have noticed it too because he blurted out an apology right then.

"I don't think you meant that," Jorge said, drawing his leg back and kicking out at the boy.

Minho cried out in pain. She struggled against the boys' tight holds, trying to get her arm up to at least fling her knife in the direction of the man.

"Say it with meaning, hermano."

She was going to kill him.

"Say it with meaning!" he screamed and kicked at the same spot with much more force than before.

Minho let out a strangled yell and clutched his leg. "I'm… sorry," he ground out.

Jorge started to relax again, that idiotic smile spreading across his face once more. Then Minho lashed out, swinging his arm into the man's shin and causing him to lose his balance. He fell down with a yelp of surprise and Minho jumped on him, yelling out profanities as he beat the living crap out of the guy.

"Minho!" Thomas shouted, getting up to his feet. "Stop!"

There was a flurry of movement; scrapes and sounds coming from the upper floors and ropes slithered down to the ground. Thomas threw himself across the air, slamming into Minho and throwing the both of them against the wall. Cassandra ripped her arm free from Newt's dazed hands and took Minho's place above the man, pressing her blade to his throat.

"STOP!" she shrieked just as the firsts of the man's minions reached the floor.

There were about a dozen more of them, all filthy and bedraggled, but definitely outnumbering the Gladers now. They held crude weapons in their hands; machetes, baseball bats with jagged screws rammed through or metal bars with various odd deadly attachments.

"I will slit your throat, I swear it," she hissed back down at Jorge. His eyes were wide, almost frenzied but beneath it all, she could see the panic. "You think I don't know how? I've been doing it far longer than you have, slinthead."

The last word left her in a low growl and she could see one of his cronies- a woman- shift uncomfortably. The blade sunk just a fraction deeper against his skin and a pinprick of blood escaped beneath it.

"It looks like you're further Gone than I am, hermana," he grinned up at her and it made her bristle like a cat.

"Cass," Thomas called her, voice thick with dread. "Stop it. Let me talk to him. Just ten minutes."

"Why?" she glared at him.

"He's their leader," he hissed back, cocking his head at the group of Cranks on the other end of the room. "What's gonna happen if you kill off the only person who can control 'em?"

He had a point but she still scowled back. "What are you going to talk to him about?"

"Some kind of resolution, at least," he told her. "Do you really think we have a chance to take them all on?"

"Tell them to back off," she said, turning back to Jorge. "Back off, now!"

The man waved his hand in the air, his voice calling out with forced cheerfulness. "You heard the lady! Back off!"

The Cranks shuffled backwards, making a bit of a show of it. One of them snickered and it was clear that they were just bidding their time to toy with their group.

"Ten minutes. Just me and him. Alone," Thomas said.

She looked at him like he had just gone insane.

"Trust me," he said almost pleadingly. "I'll be fine. If I start screaming for help, you can start swishing your knife around."

"Touch him," she warned. "And you'll have more to pay back for."

"I like her," Jorge licked his lips. "Can I keep her?"

Minho stood up and kicked him back in the leg real hard, earning a wince of pain from the man. "Go before I shuck you up real bad."

Cassandra slowly stepped off him, her eyes flicking back to the rest of the Cranks. They seem to be obeying for the moment and she didn't want a bedlam to break out either. Whatever Thomas had to say, he better make it quick and good.

"Ten minutes," Jorge agreed as he stood back up. "Rest of you stay here, watch these punks. If I give the word, let the death games begin."

She threw him another glare and he grinned back, walking towards a dark hallway on the opposite side of the doors. Thomas got up to follow after him.

"Ten minutes," she said.

They watched as the two left and the tension in the air was palpable. The Gladers gathered closely around each other, clutching whatever weapons they still had with them. It wasn't enough to face the Cranks and their assortment of lethal objects though. There was a girl with dark hair, standing off to the side. She looked clean, unlike the rest, her eyes darting back and forth between them in comparison to the dull lifeless gazes of her companions.

Cassandra turned to Minho, clutching his arm. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he grunted. "Shank just got me in a rough spot."

"I'm gonna kill him," she hissed angrily.

Minho chuckled and pulled her towards him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. His lips smirked against the side of her head as he murmured lowly into her ear.

"I love it when you get all protective. My little lionheart."

"Is Tommy gonna be okay?" Newt asked, glancing back down the corridor with worry.

"No one's screaming yet," Minho shrugged. "He'll be fine. He has diplomatic immunity for the next ten minutes."

They scrutinised the other group, almost half of them were thin and frail looking. They probably wouldn't pack much of a punch, let alone swing the heavy looking metal bats or machetes in their hands properly. A couple more couldn't be any older than they were and would be the easiest to deal with. The other half posed a problem though, especially the tall hulking man with the jagged metal bar.

"If things do go sour… think we can take 'em on?" Frypan asked quietly as they huddled together conspiratorially.

"I reckon I could take a couple of them down on my own," Cassandra sniffed delicately. "Take out the frail lookin' ones first, weed out the weak. Then we can focus on the big fish. If they go after you, just kite 'em around and wear them out a little."

"You're the most heartless out of us all," Newt commented. "But I like it."

"This is why-"

"No one messes with your Cassie," the other two finished for him, rolling their eyes.

"You better believe it," she smirked and glanced at her watch. Five minutes had passed by while they were plotting their defence strategy. She hoped the second half of the negotiations would go over well enough.

Cassandra started when one of the Cranks caught her eye; a tall and lanky boy with a long metal bar and some kind of cement block at the end. He had shaggy brown hair and for a moment she thought that it was…

She closed her eyes and shook her head. Her mind kept playing tricks on her and it was starting to get annoying, she just wanted to focus on the present and get through the Scorch. Minho tightened his hold on her arm and the next four minutes felt like eternity. They were all wondering the same thing; what was Thomas talking about with the weird guy?

Finally, they heard shoes crunching over rubble from down the corridor and Jorge was the first to come into view. She felt Minho tense beside her and her own grip tightened over the knife. Thomas soon emerged from the shrouded darkness to re-join them. He looked fine; there was nothing to suggest that negotiations hadn't turned out the way he hoped for it to be.

"Alright, everybody listen up!" the man announced. "Me and the bird-face here have come to a resolution."

Jorge stopped in the middle of the room between the two groups as if he was standing on no man's land. He raised his arms up again before addressing them all like some kind of wrestling match commentator.

"We need to get these people food," he said, his tone completely different from before and she raised a questioning eyebrow at Thomas who merely shrugged back. "I know it seems crazy to share our hard-earned grub with a bunch of strangers, but I think we could use their help. Give them the pork and beans- I'm sick of that horse crap anyway."

Someone snickered and she didn't understand why that would be so funny.

"Second, being the grand gentleman and saint that I am, I've decided not to kill the punk who attacked me."

A few groans of disappointment erupted from his proclamation. Minho smiled and waved towards them and Jorge grunted in amusement.

"Pretty happy, are you?" he asked. "That's good to know. Means you'll take the news well."

"What news?" Minho turned to him icily.

Jorge licked his lips, a wide smirk breaking out over his face.

"After we get you stragglers fed so you don't go dying of starvation on us, you get to have your punishment for attacking me."

"Oh, yeah?" the boy's smirk matched his. "And what's that gonna be?"

"You punched me with both of your fists," Jorge's expression grew serious again. "And your girlfriend pricked my neck."

Minho raised an eyebrow at the statement and Cassandra narrowed her eyes at the man.

"So we're gonna cut a finger off each hand and string her up to flay."


	14. SYLEUS

**ACT II SCENE XIV  
SYLEUS**

* * *

 **THE CRANKS HOOTED AND HOLLERED HAPPILY.** Minho took a step forwards, looking like he was about to maul the man right where he stood. Then the clean-looking girl suddenly stepped between them, holding a blade right at Minho's throat and drawing a bead of blood.

Cassandra's reaction was instantaneous.

She dropped to the ground quickly and swung her leg out in a sweeping arch. It caught the girl by surprise, causing her eyes to widen as she lost her footing and fell backwards. Cassandra was on her, grabbing her arm roughly and stealing the blade from her hand. She pinned the girl to the ground with a knee on the back and twisted the arm around until she was crying out in pain.

Someone whistled behind her.

"You wanna try that again, shuckface?!" she yelled angrily then looked up at Jorge. "Threaten him one more time and I'm not gonna play nice anymore!"

Thomas groaned. "Cass, that's enough, let her go!"

The girl squirmed beneath her and Cassandra growled before reluctantly stepping off again. She held both knives in her hands, pointed at both Jorge and the girl as she scrambled to a stand with a disdainful look on her face at Cassandra.

"She's a spitfire, isn't she?" Jorge commented while feigning a smile. "I wonder what she'll sound like when I'm done with her."

The Cranks snickered menacingly on the side, some of them holding up their weapons and looking delighted at the idea. She threw a glance at them and Minho took a step forward again. A few of the Gladers rushed up to hold the both of them back.

"Stop it, you bloody lunatics!" Newt exclaimed.

"Cass, you're ruining our plan," Thomas hissed in her ear and she blinked, turning to look at him with a puzzled expression. His eyebrows furrowed briefly and she slowly lowered her arms.

"Sorry," he then said loudly to Jorge. "They won't do it again, I swear."

The man grunted just as the girl threw Cassandra a glare that could rival her own.

"So here's the plan," he started again. "Brenda and I will escort these moochers to the stash, let 'em eat up. Then we'll all meet on the Tower, let's say noon on the dot. We'll bring lunch for the rest of you."

"Why just you and Brenda?" the biggest muscle of the group asked. "What if they jump you again? There's eleven of them to two of you."

Jorge narrowed his eyes scornfully. "Thanks for the math lesson, Barkley, seems like you forgot who saved your dumb asses in the first place. Now shut your flappin' lips and lead everybody to the Tower. If these punks try anything again, Brenda will slash Mr. Minho and his girlfriend to tiny bits while I beat the living hell out of the rest of 'em."

Cassandra's lips twitched into a scowl as she resisted the urge to tackle the man too.

"Fine. But if they do jump you and slit your throat, we'll get along just fine without ya," Barkley retorted.

"Thanks for the kind words, hermano. Now get, or we'll have double the fun on the Tower."

There was a bark of laughter before Barkley started down the dark corridor. He gestured for the other Cranks to follow him and they all shuffled into the shadows. Once they were gone and probably a good distance away, Jorge made a relieved face.

The girl, who must be Brenda, turned to Cassandra with a mocking expression. "That your boyfriend? He needs a girl to protect him, huh?"

"You think that's supposed to be an insult?" Minho raised an eyebrow. "You have no idea how hot she is tackling people to the floor."

Newt and Frypan groaned in dismay beside him.

"Thanks for the knife," Cassandra added, dragging the shiny blade across her lips with an affected smile. "So sharp, I like it."

Brenda rolled her eyes. "I didn't want it anyway."

Jorge sighed in exasperation. "Come on. We need to get over to the stash and put some food in you people. You all look like a bunch of starved zombies."

Minho turned to him with a dirty look. "You think I'm just gonna waltz over to have a sit-down with you psychos, then watch you tie my girl up? Don't even dare trying to lay a finger on her."

"Just shut up for once," Thomas snapped, but his eyes continued to shoot them a warning. "Let's go eat. I don't care what happens to Cass' pretty skin."

Minho squinted at him, eyebrows pulled together in revulsion, then he looked to Cassandra who sighed with complete frustration. "Whatever. Let's go."

Brenda suddenly stopped in front of Thomas, her dark eyes wide and searching. "You the leader?" she asked.

"No, it's the guy you just nipped with a knife earlier," the boy replied, looking at her in bewilderment.

The girl looked at Minho, unimpressed, then turned back to him with a smirk. "Well, that's stupid. I know I'm on the verge of crazy, but I would've picked you. You seem the leader type."

"Um… thanks…" Thomas stared at her. "I, uh, would've picked you too instead of Jorge."

"You're so sweet," she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I really hope we don't end up killing you, at least."

Cassandra exchanged a raised eyebrow with the rest of the boys. This girl must definitely be shucked in the head, utterly insane to the nth degree.

"Enough of this lovefest, Brenda," Jorge called. "We have a lot to talk about once we get to the stash. Come on, let's go."

"I like you," the girl smiled at Thomas, then followed Jorge out of the broken doors and yelling for them to follow.

They turned their eyes back to stare at Thomas who had a silly little smile on his face. He adjusted his shirt and walked across the room after the other two. Cassandra rolled her eyes; boys were just way too easy to read.

Brenda led the way to the stash while Jorge brought up the rear and they stayed within the shadows of the walls for some protection from the ungodly sun. The light reflecting off the shards of glass and metal debris sparkled in the dusty heat so that she had to shield her eyes with a hand every now and then. Soon, they came to a set of steps that led underground.

Something stirred at the back of her mind of concrete tunnels and whizzing through the dark. Emerging into a world ravaged by fire, streams of orange and red streaking past on the streets. She shook her head and the images vanished to the back of her mind once again. Subtrans, her memories recalled, some kind of transportation back then.

Brenda bounced down into the shadows and she quickly followed with a hand ready over her knife. The striking change in surrounding enveloped her instantly and a rush of cool air blew past her face as she descended. She left the blistering heat and blinding rays of light behind her, boots thumping hollowly as she walked down the narrow passageway.

Thomas and Minho came up right behind her as she followed the other girl's footsteps and they stopped by an opening. She heard Brenda striking a match from inside and an orange glow flickered in the gloom. Cassandra stepped inside after her as a small bulb came to life above them with an audible spark.

Brenda paused and looked over her shoulder and Cassandra could see the sparkle of delight in the girl's eyes.

"It's cramped in here so you and the other boys can stay out there in the hallway, find a wall and sit. We'll bring out some tasty delights for you in a sec."

She turned around to see Minho and Thomas hesitating at the threshold of the doorway. Her lips tugged up at the side as she threw them a bemused look then shrugged her shoulders to help Brenda with the food. The girl gestured her over to a stack of heavy crates pushed against the wall.

"The bottom one is the one we want," she pointed. "Come on, it'll be easier to do it together."

Cassandra nodded and went over to the other side. They grabbed hold of the edge of the crate and with simultaneous grunts, lifted it down to the floor before pushing it against another side of the wall. Brenda grabbed a crowbar and pried the top of the bottom crate open. Cassandra peered inside and found stacks of neatly arranged tins of food. Her hands reached inside and grabbed a few, cradling them in her arms.

"Thanks," she said gratefully to Brenda.

"Yeah, yeah, go feed your boyfriend now," the girl waved her off with a smile. "I'll bring more out and pack the rest to go."

Cassandra turned on her heel, picked up the candle from the floor, and exited the room to hand the food out to the Gladers. She sat down next to Minho and they peeled the tins apart with the little opener attached to the side. It was beans and sausage, which tasted pretty good to her. Probably would have tasted better served hot but she wasn't picky, especially when her stomach was suddenly reminded of how starved it had been.

Brenda came over and handed a pack full of the stuff to her, then another one to Frypan. The candle flickered in front of them on the ground as they continued to eat in silence. She could hear Brenda and Thomas talking on the other side of the door a little further down into the tunnel. The girl was telling him about how they found all the food and what happened to the world after the sun flares.

Streaks of red flying across burning streets, flames erupting from seemingly nothing.

She shook her head once more and froze when she heard a snicker. It was almost imperceptible, like stone scraping against stone in a whispery sound. Her hair stood on end and she grabbed hold of the pack next to her, pushing herself into a crouch.

"What's wrong?" Minho asked quietly, but his voice sounded off to her- as if another voice was layered on top of his. She stared at him with wide frightened eyes.

" _What's wrong, Cassandra?_ _Are you hearing things again?_ "

The voice laughed wickedly in her ears and her heart started to hammer against her chest. There was another scrape of stone and Jorge was darting across the passageway to Brenda.

She jumped up to her feet, heard something fizzle and pop from the direction of the stairs. Then something detonated with a loud boom and the ceiling above it came crashing down. Concrete broke and metal splintered apart as an explosion devastated its foundations. The ground beneath her feet shook and she stumbled slightly.

Jorge grabbed hold of her shoulder from behind, pointing down to the side where another passageway branched off from the main one they were in. "RUN!" he yelled in her ear and shoved her forwards. Her feet sprang across the rubble as she waved for the others to follow her. Minho and Newt were already at her side as they made a sprint for it. The other Gladers rushed after them, into the tunnel with Jorge amongst them.

"Wait!" she started and ran back. "Thomas!"

"CASS! STOP!"

Someone pulled her barely back in time as the rocks fell in front of her with a thunderous crack. She whirled around to find Newt grabbing hold of her shoulder tightly with a look of intense fear on his face. He started to pull her back down the narrow tunnel when there was a rumble that forced them to another halt.

Minho turned to look back and, for the second time in her life, she watched as he called her name out in horror just as another section of the ceiling crumbled between them.


	15. STHENEBOEA

**ACT II SCENE XV  
STHENEBOEA**

* * *

 **THEY DUCKED DOWN LOW,** waiting for the earth to stop moving around them and a few more sections fell from the explosion with such noise that was sure to wake every demon in the pits of hell. Cassandra grasped her hair between her fingers as she stared with frenzied eyes at where Minho had been just a moment ago.

"Crap!" she yelled. "Shuck! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, Newt!"

"It's fine," the blonde said next to her as he breathed heavily. "We're alive and that's all that matters."

"Fine? Alive?" her voice shook with panic as she darted towards the wall of broken rocks in their way and pressed her hands against it. "We just got trapped in-"

"Cassie?!" Minho's voice rang clearly from behind the rubble. She moved around, trying to pinpoint his voice and crouched at a small crack between the rocks.

"Minho!" she cried out when she saw him. "Oh, my God! What do we do?"

"There should be another passageway to your left, hermana," Jorge shoved Minho out of the way and took the boy's place. "Do you see it?"

"Yeah, I see it," Newt replied loudly. "It's really dark though."

"Here," the man passed a torchlight through the hole to her. She took it and clicked it on, shining it down the side path he had mentioned. It was partially blocked by debris but they'd be able to climb their way over it.

"Yeah, there's another way," she confirmed. "What now?"

"That damn Barkley," Jorge muttered under his breath before turning his attention back to her. "The tunnel on your left should lead you out to the same place as us. Keep going right, if you come to a crossroad or anything, just take your right."

"Okay," Newt said quickly behind her, his breaths still coming out shallow.

"What about you guys?" she shifted and tried to look for Minho. "Are you guys gonna be alright?"

Jorge barked out a laugh at her. "You should worry about yourself, hermana. We got a whole group here, you only got two."

She turned around to glance at Newt, saw his face turn pale at the reminder, and peered back through the hole.

"We'll be fine," she said without any hesitation in her voice, hoping that it might eliminate any worry the others had. "Minho?"

Jorge was shoved back to the side and Minho's face replaced his through the opening. He gave her an encouraging smile, his fingers trying to pry through the little hole to her.

"I'm not worried," he said confidently. "See you in a bit."

She beamed back at him. "Race you."

"Deal."

Her fingertips just about brushed against his and that was enough. Jorge forced his way around again to look at her.

"Whatever you do, stick to your right," he repeated. "And don't go into any rooms."

She pressed her lips together. "I know what to do, Jorge."

"I don't doubt it," he replied before disappearing from view again. "Okay, lover boy, enough pining and let's go."

"Cassie," Minho's expression grew serious. "Be careful."

"You too," she said with equal brevity then stood up and turned back to Newt.

He exchanged a prompt look with her before nodding his head. Shining the torch back down the tunnel, she started to cross the musty corridor. Shoving the flashlight into her belt, she planted her hands on top of a flat rock and pushed herself up. Her right leg went over, and she hauled herself over to drop down on the other side.

She quickly grabbed the torch and shone it around to make sure that they were okay before calling for Newt to join her. His boots stomped against the concrete with a loud thud and they exchanged nervous glances before setting down the passageway.

Debris continued to fall in intervals behind them, clicking across the ground, and water dripped from further in the depths. Newt stayed close to her side and they both had their knives out at the ready to attack or defend. Cassandra's senses were on high alert, aware of every sound that echoed around them in the dark.

They went down the first corridor in a tense silence before turning right down another passageway. It reminded her of the Maze, and she wondered if Minho thought so too. Why did she always have to get separated from Minho in all the worst possible situations? The underground tunnel was so much more terrifying than the endless halls of the Maze though, at least she always knew what to expect in there. This place was a myriad of unexpected disasters waiting to happen on them.

"What do you think happened?" Newt asked her, keeping his voice low.

"Sounded like Jorge's Cranky friends figured out their plan," she shrugged. "Probably got angry for being left out, I don't know."

"But they buried all the food too," he frowned.

"Yeah," she responded. "But I heard Brenda saying that this whole area used to have a bunch of factories. Guess there must be more supplies around the place."

"I hope so," he told her. "We just have these cans of beans and sausages. I'm not sure it'll last us the whole week and a half. Even if we do ration them out. Plus they're pretty heavy to lug around out there."

He was right, but there were more pressing matters to worry about at the moment. She shone the torch from left to right as they continued walking. Their footsteps echoed and bounced off the grimy walls. A couple of times they passed by a metal door but they had all been sealed shut, and they weren't particularly interested in finding out what was behind any of them anyway. Their breathing and boots splashing across the thin trail of water below their feet were the only sounds in the ruined tunnels that could be heard.

" _Cassandra,_ " a whisper echoed inside her head and it made her shiver.

"Brr!" she uttered and Newt turned to look at her sharply.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing, just the shuck voice in my head again," she told him just as it laughed.

" _I'm coming for you, just wait for me like a good little girl._ "

"Do you have any idea who it might be?"

She shook her head. "Maybe someone from WICKED? It's the most likely but I don't know. Wish I did so I could hunt her down and give the shank a piece of my mind."

He grunted out a laugh and they continued down the corridor in silence again. There were squeaks and scampering coming down a few branching passages as they passed by and each time, they hurried their paces until they were a good deal away. It could have just been sewer rats but it never hurt to be too cautious.

Cassandra kept her eyes peeled through the dark, flicking from side to side as she scanned every nook and cranny. Newt was doing the same, his body tensed and she could feel the fear radiating off of him but he put on a good show of being brave.

They went further on and it felt like a good twenty minutes had passed as they continued walking. Her body relaxed a fraction but she didn't think they were anywhere near the exit that fast. Somewhere at the back of her mind, she felt old memories stir of this same scene- running around in the dark from swirling murky water and endless screams for help.

Newt's voice suddenly threw her out of her thoughts.

"You know," he started again. "I need to tell you something."

"Hm?" she glanced at him briefly.

"Thought I owed it to ya to come clean on it," he said.

Her lips curved into a cheeky smirk. "Please don't tell me you've had a crush on me since like ever."

She could practically hear him rolling his eyes and snickered.

"No, you shank," he shook his head. "Remember that time back in the Glade, you were asking me about what happened that made me stop being a Runner?"

Cassandra hummed. "Yeah, you got into an accident with a Griever."

"Yeah," he said and there was hesitation in his voice. "Except there wasn't an accident, or a Griever."

"Then how did you get your limp?" she furrowed her eyebrows and her eyes flicked upwards when an old dusty bulb collapsed from the ceiling. It burst into tiny shards on the ground and they looked at it without much concern.

"I climbed the vines up to the top of the wall," he told her. "And I jumped down. I tried to kill myself."

Her feet stopped with a small splash and she turned to look at him, flashing the light in his direction. A hard expression was on his face and his round brown eyes looked at her with such deep-seated sorrow, she felt as if her own heart would break. Suicide, she thought, didn't seem like Newt at all. Sure, he was a pretty sensitive person but throwing himself to his own death had never been something she saw him actively capable of doing.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked softly, voice laced with concern.

"Like I said," he shrugged. "I thought I owed it to ya. You're my friend, Cass, one of my closest. It didn't feel right to be keeping secrets from you."

She looked down before turning her gaze back on him, then reached out to squeeze his arm with a smile. He blinked at her and his eyes softened back to their usual warmth. Newt had been the first person she met when she first arrived in the Glade, he'd always been so kind, and she stayed by his side because of that. She could say exactly the same of him; he was the closest friend she had apart from Minho. They told each other everything.

"Thanks, Newt. I really appreciate it."

"Okay," he cocked his head down the corridor. "I'm bloody freezing and I'm not sure if it's from the cold."

A chuckle escaped her lips and she turned back, only to freeze in sudden shock. Her breath instantly caught itself in her chest and she didn't dare to move a single muscle. Newt followed her horrified gaze and she heard the gasp as his heart must have come to an abrupt stop as well.

In front of them, a few meters away was a huddled figure in raggedy clothes and dark matted hair dangling over the side of its face. Cassandra thought it was a woman and she was just sitting there in a hunched position as if waiting for something, or maybe someone.

There was a rat squirming in her hand, its long tail flicking from side to side. Then the woman lifted it to her mouth and there was a sickening crunch as she bit the rat's head off and the pitiful animal instantly fell limp. Cassandra's stomach churned uncomfortably as her lips twitched in disgust at the display.

The figure looked up in their direction and she saw her mouth open in a wide insane smile.


	16. BACCHAE

**ACT II SCENE XVI  
BACCHAE**

* * *

 **THEY LOOKED AT EACH OTHER,** both of them trying to figure out what to do next. Newt reached over and held the front of her torch in his hand so that only their immediate vicinity was lit up. There was the sound of something scampering across the ground, like it was on all fours, going further into the tunnel and Newt took his hand off.

She shone it back down the corridor and the figure had gone away but she didn't dare breathe a sigh of relief just yet. Newt took a tentative step forward but she held a hand out to stop him. The noise grew distant, then there was a small splash of water being kicked up before everything fell back into an eerie silence and Newt looked to her again.

Cassandra swallowed, feeling all her senses on high alert now and her entire body felt like a trigger waiting to be pulled.

"Let's go," Newt whispered and she nodded once, taking a step forward carefully.

They continued down the corridor, creeping quietly but as quickly as they possibly could. She could see a fork up ahead of them and their boots landed in a large pool of murky water. Her heart accelerated as she came up to the corner but there was nowhere else for them to go- they had to turn right.

She held her hand up to stop Newt again, gripping the hilt of her knife, and pressed her back against the edge with the blade raised for the kill. Newt took the torch from her and then quickly shone it down the empty passageway. Nothing happened and his body instantly relaxed with a sigh of relief.

He took a step forward when there was a loud snarl as something flew up from the left side of the fork out of the darkness. It collided into Newt's back and sent the both of them crashing to the ground. Cassandra's eyes widened in horror as she took a good look at the Crank's face for a brief second- but it was enough to give her nightmares for the next few months at least.

A woman, possibly the same one as before, her dark hair was in knotted tangles and dripping wet. Half of her face had melted off, puffed up skin stretching down over the left eye and mouth, making that side a masterpiece of abomination. The other half was wrinkled and covered in oozing sores, her one good eye crazed with lunacy and chapped lips stretched over a gaping hole. She wore a tattered white dress that was now soiled and stained, the sequins sewn throughout now hanging loose as they sparkled in the shine of the flashlight.

Newt cried out as he struggled against thin but tenacious arms. Cassandra ran forward and kicked the woman hard in the side, feeling her own sting where the bruise was.

The Crank scrambled onto all fours and lunged forwards again as if the blow had done nothing to hurt it, tackling Cassandra to the ground next. She felt the jolt throughout her entire body and lifted an arm to shield her face instinctively as the Crank rambled in a raspy voice.

"You're so pretty. I used to be pretty, I was the prettiest, you should have seen me. I was the prettiest of the prettiest. You have such a pretty nose, can I have your nose?"

It made every nerve ending on her body spark with fright. Cassandra slapped the manic clawed hands away from her face, kicking her left leg up and over the Crank's head, then bringing it swinging across the torso. The force was enough to send the woman sprawling across the ground and Cassandra quickly jumped to a stand.

The infected lunatic screeched loudly, its shrill voice bouncing down the tunnel walls and fear gripped her heart. As if in answer to their matriarch's call, more screams erupted from further down the darkness. Newt gasped behind her, the torch in his hand darting around furiously as he turned from side to side in blind panic.

Cassandra dove forwards on impulse, driving her knife into the Crank's skull with a merciless crunch and the screeching came to an abrupt stop as they fell backwards with a heavy thud. She grounded her foot against the woman's throat for good measure and pulled the blade free. For that split second, she felt the rush of déjà vu mix with the adrenaline and the memories ingrained into her muscles. She knew, right then, that she had done this countless of times before.

"Bloody hell," Newt stared and she quickly turned to grab his hand.

"Run!" she yelled just as the screams from the left side of the corridor grew louder.

They sprinted to the right, pumping their feet as fast as they could down the wet, moss infested tunnel. The ray of light from the torch bounced around erratically in front of them as Newt tried his best to illuminate the way while running. They skidded to a halt just as another figure rounded the corner, body twitching uncontrollably, then turned towards them with manic eyes. It grinned; opening tears on both sides of its mouth and stared them down. Three more joined it and stood in their way as the screeches behind continued to grow in intensity.

"Shuck!" she cursed. "God shucking damn it all to hell!"

"W-What do we do?" Newt asked frantically.

She grabbed him, pulled him closer to her and looked directly into his terrified eyes.

"There's only one thing to do," she told him. "When I say run, you _run_ , got me?"

"Cass, what-"

Before he could finish his sentence, she let go and charged towards the Cranks ahead of them, knives drawn at the ready. Newt started in shock, calling out for her to stop. There was a hiss and it seemed like the little group was surprised at her sudden action as well. Cassandra took the opportunity to slip between them, her blade flashing in the scant light as it tore through the artery of the first Crank. The other blade embedded itself deep in a second's throat, and she realised that they were all female of various ages- like some kind of hellish brood.

The third managed to throw herself in Cassandra's direction, knocking into her and pain exploded in her side. It made all the air rush out of her and she had to take a precious second to gasp for more. Nails tore into her skin, grabbing hold of her arm in an iron vice. She was surprised that these starved pitiful creatures had so much strength left in them and wondered exactly how much pure animalistic instinct could drive a person on despite being on the brink of death.

She swung her elbow into the girl's face but the grip on her arm didn't falter in the least and she had to pull the both of them away as another Crank came dangerously close to ripping her throat out with its teeth. They tumbled to the ground and Cassandra managed to plunge her knife into the chest of the girl that held her. The pressure on her limb dropped away instantly.

Newt had rushed forwards to help, throwing his shoulder into the Crank bearing down on her from the back. They landed on the ground and he held his knife up in the air but couldn't bring himself to finish the deed.

"RUN!" she yelled just as she heard the splashes of water grow closer.

The Crank threw the blonde to the side and Cassandra twisted her knife downwards to slash behind the knees. Its legs buckled beneath it and she pushed herself up to swipe it across the face. There was a hideous shriek as it thrashed on the ground but she ignored it, picking Newt up and forcing him into a sprint with her.

They banked another right at the end of the corridor and more Cranks emerged from hidden passages or doorways to stop them. She ploughed through each time, ignoring the burn in every inch of her body as she dodged wild hands and slashed through anything her knife could reach. Newt helped as well, swinging his own blade in all directions to discourage would be attackers.

"I see light!" Newt shouted and she looked straight up.

He clicked the torch off and they followed the glare of sunlight ahead like a beacon of hope. The snarls and snaps of teeth behind them seemed even closer now, shouting gibberish that sounded like words, and their hurried footsteps filled the air with rabid dissonance. She felt the heat of the sun kiss her skin once again as they ran up the stairs into the bright arid wasteland.

"Cassie!" she heard Minho's voice call in utter joy and his face lit up before immediately falling at the panic in both her and Newt's eyes.

"RUN!" she yelled and waved her arms around just as a scream erupted behind her. The Cranks had caught up to them, emerging deliriously into the sun probably for the first time in years. The noise that escaped their throats was not human at all as they continued to give chase unrelentingly.

"No!" Jorge bellowed as he slammed a metal bar into the first Crank's face where it dropped to the ground like a fly. "Everyone hold your ground! We can't have them chasing after us across half the city! They won't stop until they're dead!"

She skidded to a halt next to Minho and looked at the Hispanic man with utter revulsion. "Are you freaking kidding me?!"

Her lungs were ready to burst like a saturated balloon and her side was killing her. Minho saw the pain she was in and pulled her behind him.

"Leave it to us," he told her. "Just stay behind me."

Cassandra thought that was a pretty swell idea but when she saw a dozen more Cranks way past the Gone coming up onto the dusty street, the option kind of lost its sparkle.

"Uh, sure," she grunted unhappily. "And let you guys handle that army on your own? I don't think so."

"God, you're so hot," he whispered only for her to hear and she chuckled in disbelief.

"The hell are those things anyway?" Frypan yelped somewhere behind them.

"Buggin' monstrosities right out of your worst nightmare, that's what they are," Newt responded with a shiver. "Cass took five of 'em out on her own earlier, so reckon we could do the same, eh?"

"Sure, I'll take that bet," Archie quipped.

She turned to smirk widely at the boy, not expecting any less from the former Runner. Minho smiled as well with something akin to pride in it. Cassandra stepped forward to stand next to him, twirling her knives downwards again and Minho sighed as he glanced at her.

"You shucking turn me on," he said in a low voice just as another Crank recovered from its sun sickness and charged in their direction with maniacal laughter.

"Pretty! So pretty, let me have some of your pretty! Pretty pretty pretty pretty!"

Cassandra bit her lip in a futile attempt to stop the grin spreading across her face. Then she sprang forwards, arm swinging out to sever a neat horizontal line through the Crank's throat before spinning around and digging the other knife into its right eyeball. There was a gurgling scream as it fell backwards to the ground and she tore the blade back out.

Minho watched her like he was enjoying every second of it.

"God damn, I'm in shucking love."


	17. ALCMENE

**ACT II SCENE XVII  
ALCMENE**

* * *

 **SEEING HER DISPATCH** the Crank with such ease injected a newfound courage into the rest of the Gladers. Some of them had picked up pieces of metal and bars from the debris surrounding them, strewn along every inch of the city. Newt picked one up from the side as well, opting for more mid range attacks.

Cassandra turned back around to face the rest of the Cranks and once again, they were mostly female with only a couple or so males. She wondered what they had been doing down there in the twisting dark, why were they all so seemingly obsessed with the notion of being pretty. It was like they were part of some ancient cult. Her arm went up in front of her, tip of the knife pointing out.

Then at once, the Cranks shrieked as they swarmed forwards and the Gladers met them with yells of their own. Minho was fighting by her side, the both of them ducking claws and swinging their blades out in arching swipes that shredded through skin and veins.

She grabbed his arm, swung him around as a Crank came up from behind and used the momentum to kick her leg through the air at its head. There was a loud thud as its body fell to the ground before springing back up as if nothing had happened to pounce again. Minho came back around at the same time and plunged his knife through its throat with deliberate force. Cassandra pressed herself against his back, grinning with the exhilaration of her adrenaline rush.

"I wanna kiss you so bad," she told him.

"Right back at you, babe," he smirked slyly.

They parted, Minho rushing forwards to slam into a Crank that had collapsed onto Ed, trying to bite the boy's face off. She dropped down and rolled across the ground to tear through the guts of another Crank that was planning to jump on Aris' back. Blood splattered across her face and she wiped it off impatiently with the back of her hand before jumping to her feet next to Jorge.

The man had a cold gleam in his eyes as he splintered skulls with his metal bar as if he was cracking eggs open for breakfast with a spoon.

"You fight pretty well, muchacho," he told her.

"Ain't too bad yourself, old man," she smirked, sprinting forwards to tackle another Crank to the ground beside Newt. The impact sent her side stinging and she ignored it once again to drive her knife into the Crank's chest. There was a sputter of blood from its mouth and its body twitched underneath before she was pushing herself to stand again.

Finally, she threw her knife in front of her and it lodged deeply into the head of the Crank ambling her way. It collapsed to the ground immediately and she walked over to retrieve the weapon, wiping the blood on the dead Crank's shirt.

"Well, that was a good workout," Minho commented as he kicked a body out of his way. Then he started towards her and she imagined him pulling her in for that kiss. Instead, he just winked at her and planted his hands on his hips. "We should be good to go now, right?"

"Right," Jorge nodded then turned around to take in their bearings.

"Where are we anyway?" Frypan asked as they gathered around the man.

"Zone B," he replied, stopping and facing down the empty road.

"Where's Zone B?" Cassandra asked and Jorge looked at her.

"It's where they burn the bodies."

"Sounds perfect," Newt said sarcastically.

"Where we just came from was Zone A," he explained quickly, starting down the road with them on his heel. "This part's around the middle of the city, everything that's salvageable has already been salvaged. And that's good for us-"

"How is that good for us?" Minho interjected snappily.

"Good because we won't run into any Cranks around these parts," Jorge said before grunting out a laugh. "Any living ones anyway."

"So where are we headed?" Cassandra asked.

"To Zone C, on the other side of the city," he answered. "You're headin' to the mountains, right? I'll get you there to the safe haven."

"Wait, how do you know we're goin' to the safe haven?" Newt asked him suspiciously.

"Your friend Thomas told me everything."

"Always said that boy had the largest mouth I've ever known," she groused. "There must be a catch, right? What did he promise you? That you'll get this cure too? We're not even sure if we can trust WICKED."

"That's a chance I'm willing to take," he smiled at her but there was wariness in his eyes.

"What about Thomas and Brenda? We lost 'em back there," Frypan said worriedly. "Are they okay?"

"They're tough kids, Brenda knows her stuff," Jorge reassured them. "She'll bring your friend out and meet us at the mountain. I already told her the plan, or maybe we'll meet up on the way."

"Can we really trust this shank?" Minho whispered in her ear.

"He knows the city better than we do," she responded. "We're probably better off following him for now."

"Yeah, but I still don't trust him," he scowled at the man's back.

"Neither do I," she leaned closer to him. "There's something off about him, I don't think he's tellin' us the entire story."

"Yeah, same here."

They continued down the road and turned on their left due north. She couldn't see the mountains from deep within the city but the tall buildings on either side of them provided ample coverage from the sun. As they moved onto the main street, the overwhelming stench finally hit them and the Gladers started gagging simultaneously.

"Oh, God, what is that?!" Aris cried out.

"I told you this is where they burn the bodies," Jorge replied with a sardonic smile then wrapped a piece of cloth around his face nonchalantly.

A plume of dark grey smoke could be seen further down the road on their right, and someone cackled with the sound of glass breaking. Streaks of blood ran down the cracked cement and desecrated decaying bodies were piled up high in the back of trucks. Most of the buildings were all broken into, and complete disarray surrounded them.

Cassandra felt her stomach clench, scrunching her face up in pure disgust at the sight before her. She pressed her hand against her mouth and nose in an attempt to block the smell out but it was useless. The fetor hung in the air all around them with every side street branching down to more pyres in the distance.

"You said we wouldn't run into any living Cranks," she said after starting at another loud crash of glass breaking.

"They're harmless," he said. "All they care about is burning the bodies."

She frowned, glancing down another alleyway with a fire crackling merrily in a rusted metal barrel. The heat seemed even more oppressive here despite the shade from the sun and the smoke made her choke from time to time. She reached up to wipe a couple of stray tears from her eyes. A couple of young children watched them from underneath a tarp, full of hungry curiosity. That single image alone scared her more than the full-blown Cranks lurking within the dark. Sending kids to die in a horrid place like this, it just seemed so cold-blooded.

What was civilisation like? It was as if they were surrounded by madness from all fronts.

They trudged on for about an hour down the middle of the street before Jorge motioned for them to enter a deadend. A couple of questions sounded, along with a sarcastic comment, before the man shushed them. He stopped by a door and grabbed the handle, trying to pull it open but it seemed like it was wedged stuck. He cursed quietly under his breath.

"Damn it," he said.

"What's wrong?" Newt asked.

"I think it's locked from the inside," he cursed again. "Cutting through here would save us at least two hours from circling the entire block though."

Minho moved forwards and tried throwing his shoulder against the door. The old lock budged slightly but it wasn't enough force to break the shuck thing open. Cassandra looked around and pointed towards a small window on the opposite wall from the door. It looked big enough for a person to crawl into but it was too high for her to reach on her own.

Her boots thudded heavily against the ground as she jumped down from the ramp they had all lined up on and crossed the distance to the window.

"Help me up there," she pointed, standing underneath it.

"Cassie, are you sure?" Minho looked around warily as he went after her. "What if there are more Cranks in there? I can't let you go in on your own."

She lifted her head up and squinted at the window. "Well, follow me if you want to."

He nodded and turned back to the others, waving his arm. "Arch, Fry, c'mere and help us out!"

Minho climbed up first, since he was taller and could throw the window open. It was times like this that she wished that she was taller than her five foot five frame. He managed to wriggle his way through the tight fit of the window and dropped inside. She could hear the thud of his boots hitting something hollow, a box maybe, and then his face popped back out. He waved her up with a hand and she climbed onto Archie's shoulders with Frypan helping to steady her.

"Hold on," Newt came over and handed her back the flashlight. "The both of you better not be smackin' lips in there and forget all about us."

"Oh, my God, Newt!" she exclaimed in disbelief as the other two boys snickered.

Minho reached out to grasp her arm and pulled her into the building. It was dark, the only light source was from the open window and it reeked of mould. Her observation had been right; a few wooden crates had been stacked up against the wall underneath the window. They clicked on their flashlights and shone it around the room, jumping at what they found in the corner. There was a decomposing corpse slumped down there on the left, a huge splatter of blood on the wall behind it and a gun in its hand.

Her eyes immediately flicked to the silver firearm and she darted forwards to pick it up. Minho raised a questioning eyebrow at her as she smiled smugly and pocketed the pistol.

"My little magpie," he said affectionately, holding his hand out to her.

She took it and they started towards the door. The rusted hinges squealed noisily in the silence and they peeked out of the room cautiously while shining their torches into every corner. When they didn't see anything, they stepped out into a reception area that led down a narrow corridor.

Minho started when his light landed on another corpse behind the counter. He took a step closer to examine it.

"Whoa… look at that," he told her. "It looks like she clawed her own eyes out."

"Uh, no, thanks," she dragged him away and he had a stupid grin on his face.

"Are you scared of the creepy dead people?" he teased.

"You do realise I help make creepy dead people?" she raised a brow.

"Point taken."

They reached the end of the hallway and turned right into another one. Broken glass crunched underneath their feet and busted ceiling lights hung above them. Some of the doors were opened and they took a peek into each one to make sure that everything was clear. They were all the same, completely trashed with furniture strewn about in pieces under layers of unimaginable dirt.

"Hey, Minho," she started. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" he turned to her and she looked back with a serious expression.

"How is your hair still so freaking perfect?" her lips curled up into a scowl.

He snorted and laughed out loud. "Cassie… I'm speechless."

"Seriously," she continued. "Like how does it even do that, man? There's not even a single strand out of place. Are you like a wizard or something?"

There was a creak as one of the ceiling lights dropped down a little lower behind them. They continued down the corridor again.

"It's a talent, Cassie," he shrugged. "I was born with it."

"Hmph," she said disgruntledly.

They reached another larger room, which looked like it used to be a storage area. Numerous metal shelves were arranged in neat rows throughout its entirety but they'd all been plundered long ago. The only things that remained were broken or useless.

"C'mere, I owe you somethin'," he pulled her behind a shelf and started kissing her. She grinned against his lips then wrapped her arms around his neck. He held her closely and all she could feel was his warmth and his breaths against her skin. Her back pressed against the wall as Minho trailed his lips across her neck, then he pulled her thighs up around his waist so she was pinned against him.

A small moan escaped her as he took her lips again, biting slightly on the lower one as his tongue darted out to meet hers. Her hands couldn't stop touching him and she wanted desperately to feel more of his skin. She messed up that perfect hair of his, running the short strands through her fingers and kissing him feverishly.

There was another creak and they parted quickly to look around. Minho gave her one more quick kiss before dropping her back down and they started across the room again. They found the back door and knocked on it three times then were replied with the same.

"About bloody time," Newt called from the other side. "You were smackin', weren't you?"

"Geezus, Newt, were you like watching us?" she replied with a klunk-eating grin as she looked back to Minho who had the exact same expression.

"I shucking knew it," the blonde sighed in dismay.

The lock on the door was pretty old but they'd still need something to break it. She used her knife and managed to get it to snap open with some precise force. There was another creak, coming from the ceiling right above them and Minho flashed his torch up.

A second later, there was a loud bang as both the door and the ceiling gave way at the same time.


	18. ARCHELAUS

**ACT II SCENE XVIII  
ARCHELAUS**

* * *

 **A MAN GNASHED HIS TEETH** above her and she could see it through the gaping hole in his cheek, tendons stretched across bare bone. His eye on the same side was gone, a deep crater of scabbed flesh. Cassandra covered her face and struggled briefly before he was kicked off her by Minho.

"Get your hands off my Cassie!" he yelled angrily and slammed his body against the man, drawing his knife to impale him in the face.

Cassandra immediately jumped up to her feet just as five more Cranks dropped down from the ceiling. She backed away to assess the field and gripped her knife tightly in hand.

"Oh, not this again!" Frypan complained.

"They must have been chased in here by some other group," Jorge grunted and swung his bar at another man's head. "C'mon, let's take 'em out quickly and get out of here."

Cassandra lunged forwards at a third man that was skinny and missing an ear. She knocked him to the ground and slit his throat before rolling off as a woman rushed in her direction.

Minho stepped between them and grabbed her arm, swinging the woman over his shoulder and onto the ground. He dispatched her as well and the others managed to put the rest down. Jorge quickly crossed the room towards another door and kicked it open loudly.

"Come on, hurry," he waved them over and they ran through the next corridor.

A couple more Cranks jumped out from behind doors in an attempt to stop them but their reactions now were to kill and ask questions later. Loud thumps echoed above them from the ceiling but as long as nothing else fell on top of them, they ignored it. Jorge led them to what looked like a loading bay and broke down the next door in his hurry.

They exited the building through another side entrance and the evening sun greeted them with a loathsome glare. Cassandra squinted and shielded her eyes with a hand as she scanned the street for any more Cranks but it seemed like the coast was clear.

"Okay," Jorge turned around and stepped up onto a pile of rubble to take a better look around. "I know another stash nearby here that should be ours for the taking."

"You sure there won't be anyone else there to greet us?" Newt asked dryly.

The man chuckled. "I'm sure, hermano. It's my own personal hideout."

He hopped back down onto the street and started off to an alleyway opposite them. Minho looked at her with a raised eyebrow before following him. She hurried after and the Gladers followed suit behind them.

This part of the neighbourhood seemed a lot quieter than the previous ones they were in and they cut through another building before Jorge stopped by a crumbled ruin. He kicked away some of the debris in front and moved a slab of rock with a loud grunt to reveal a little opening.

"Welcome to my humble abode," he grinned at them before getting down on his knees and crawling through the hole. "Make sure the last of you move that back in place."

Minho told them to go ahead and he'll be the last one to close the entrance. Cassandra stood next to him to keep a look out before she got down and went after them. He crawled in behind her and carefully rolled the block back in place, cutting off the light behind her.

She emerged at the end of the short tunnel into a cosy looking room with a threadbare carpet covering most of the dusty floor. Newt helped her up to stand and she looked around to take in the rest of the room. There was a bed in a corner and a couple of old sunken sofas pushed against the wall. All around were crates and boxes of supplies piled high in neat stacks.

"You… live here?" she asked hesitantly.

"Sort of," Jorge replied. "Found it while scavenging around the place."

Cassandra frowned and looked around again. There was a fridge and electricity was actually running the thing. Frypan walked over and opened it before exclaiming loudly.

"Holy shuck, is that ice cream?!" his eyes opened wide in astonishment.

"Whoa, are you serious?" a few of the Gladers went around to take a look as well and they stood there staring at it.

"Help yourselves, muchachos," Jorge waved his hand as he busied himself rummaging through some boxes.

There were hoots of delight as the boys grabbed the packets and started eating. She looked at Minho as he stood next to her and there was a surprised look on her face. Archie handed them an ice cream each and they took it, allowing themselves to happily enjoy the little treats.

"This is the best!" Frypan sighed happily as he settled himself on a sofa to savour his frozen snack.

Newt poured himself a cup of water from a large bottle on the table that was full of various other consumables. She walked around the room and examined the rest of the boxes while the Gladers helped themselves to everything else. It was a sort of nice change, being surrounded by food and warmth. They didn't have to worry about getting killed any time soon.

She'd been looking inside a box that was littered to the top with brown packaging paper when she paused, frowning deeply. There was something right at the bottom of the mess and she cleared it to reveal a black box. A shiver went up her spine, just as a red-hot knot appeared in her belly. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder with hard eyes.

"So… how long have you been out in the Scorch?" she asked casually, impressing herself with her own acting skills.

"A couple of months," he replied distractedly as he lifted a crate and dropped it to the ground. "Give or take."

"What about Brenda?"

"Yeah, we were sent here together."

Cassandra drew her knife and stormed across the room to press the blade against the man's neck. He stiffened and turned to look at her warily. The others froze in place as they watched her with apprehension.

"A couple of months?" she repeated suspiciously. "And neither of you have succumbed to the Flare yet? We've been fighting off Cranks and not once have I seen you act out with bloodlust. In fact, you're as calm and sane as the rest of us."

"I guess it hasn't hit me yet," his lip turned up in a small scowl.

"Cut the crap!" she yelled. "I knew there was something wrong with you. They sent you here, didn't they? What's your purpose?!"

"Cass, what are you talking about?" Newt asked her but his voice suggested that he knew otherwise.

"The Flare doesn't take months to kick in," she said. "It takes hold of the brain almost instantly. The best you would have is a couple of weeks before the symptoms start and then it's a degenerative progress to complete insanity. You saw the others, they're animalistic. It switches off the humanity in you and there are hallucinations too."

"And exactly how do you know so much?" Jorge started to sneer at her. "Are you hiding something from us too?"

"Everyone knows I have memories of the past," she snapped at him. "Don't try turning this around. Now answer me, what's your purpose here?"

"Cassie, what makes you so certain he's one of them?" Minho asked.

"The box in the corner over there," she said. "There's a radio inside."

She heard his footsteps cross the room to the box she mentioned and there was a scrape as he pulled the object out.

"WICKED…" he said after a moment and showed the inscription on the side for the others to see. All at once, there was a clamour as the Gladers stood up and started questioning Jorge at the same time. "Okay, everyone shut up! You better start explaining yourself right now, shuckface."

"They warned me about you," Jorge narrowed his eyes at her. "But none of us thought you'd remember this much so quickly."

"Yeah, I'm exceptional," she said and pressed her blade a fraction closer to his neck. "Now talk!"

He sighed in frustration and relaxed his muscles somewhat as a sign of surrender.

"We were sent here to guide both groups through the Scorch," he started to tell them. "Make sure the elements or the Cranks don't kill you before the Trials started."

"Half of us are already dead," Newt said heatedly. "What are you talking about?"

"They don't need all of you," he said. "Just the important ones."

"Important ones?" she repeated. "What important ones?"

"I can't tell you more than that," he tensed again when she bared her teeth and pricked his skin. "It's Thomas and Teresa. They want the both of them alive."

"Why?" Minho demanded.

"They're the best fit for the Final Candidates."

An uncomfortable silence fell around the room and Cassandra frowned angrily. WICKED was just playing around with them again.

"Then what about the rest of us?" Frypan asked. "What are they going to do with us?"

"I don't know, man," Jorge shrugged. "I'm not part of their research team, I'm a pilot. I just do what they tell me to do and that's all I know, I swear it."

"You said both groups," Aris started. "Where's Group B now?"

"They've already made it out of the city," he said. "We went through the tunnels, but your group is meant to cross the surface through the city."

She finally lowered her arm and looked away with a bitter expression on her face. Only one small comfort came out from the man's confession; that both Thomas and Teresa would be safe for the moment. They just had to worry about themselves getting through the entire ordeal alive. And if what Jorge had said was true then they could trust him to continue guiding them through the city for now.

"We still need to find Tommy," Newt said. "But he could be anywhere."

"Don't worry, hermano, that's why I've been looking for this," Jorge said and picked up a small-screened device from the box he'd been searching through. "WICKED has trackers on all of us. I didn't expect him or Brenda to get separated, that's why I had to bring you guys back here so I could track them down."

"How are they keeping tabs on us?" she asked him.

"The chips in your brains, I guess," he told them nonchalantly.

"That makes me feel so much better," she rolled her eyes and stepped away to drop down on the sofa. "Whatever."

She was so done with everything.

"So we find them and get out of the city, and then what are you going to do?" Frypan asked.

"We follow the plan," he said. "We bring you to the safe haven."

"And we'll get the cure, right?" Newt raised an eyebrow. "They promised us a cure."

"Yeah, I expect they will," he told them. "Let's just focus on the present for now and get your friend back, capiche? Go eat and rest or whatever, we'll set out again tomorrow morning."

"We don't exactly have time to be resting, you know?" Minho frowned. "They gave us a timeframe to reach the shuck mountains."

"Trust me, you don't want to be out in the city at night," Jorge looked up at them with a serious expression. "Cranks will be crawling all over that place."

"I wouldn't mind getting some proper rest," Frypan said and some of the others agreed readily.

"Okay, fine," Minho rolled his eyes and took a seat next to Cassandra. "Do whatever you want."

They started to shuffle around the room to figure out sleeping arrangements. Cassandra settled herself on the sofa she was on and started fiddling with her hair.

"Cass…" Newt stopped in front of her. "Your nose is bleeding."

"Huh?" she looked up at him before reaching up to touch her top lip. She glanced down and saw the smear of blood then leaned her head back and pinched her nose.

"Are you okay?" Minho turned to her and she felt his hand on her arm.

"I think so," she opened her eyes and her vision swam as everything started to spin around her. "Wait, no I'm not."

"Cassie?"

"J'ai mal à la tête."

"Cassie, what the hell? You're speaking in tongues!" Minho exclaimed.

"She's speaking in French, you nutjob," Archie told him. "She said her head hurts."

The Gladers turned to him with a raised eyebrow and he shrugged.

"Why is she speaking in French?" Newt asked in alarm. "Cass, are you okay?"

"Dude, this is freaking me out," Frypan said.

Cassandra grit her teeth as an enormous pressure pressed against the front of her head and she squeezed the bridge of her nose harder. She could hear the sound of violins and laughter echo in her ears. There was a hazy sunset on the horizon as she looked out over a stone bridge in the middle of winter. It all came back to her in perfect clarity before fading into nothing, sucked into a massive black hole.

Everything around her started to dissolve, like sand slipping through her fingers. The events of the day blurred together and swirled as if someone poured too much water on a canvas. It slipped away from her but she tried to hold on.

Newt telling her his deepest secret.

Minho kissing her in the dark.

Frypan discovering ice cream.

Jorge explaining his connection to WICKED.

She couldn't forget- she had to remember it all.

But the black abyss swallowed her whole.


	19. AUGE

__**ACT II SCENE XIX  
AUGE**

* * *

 _ **"MON CHOU."**_

 _"I am not a cabbage, Soyun."_

 _She giggled and her voice echoed throughout the cave. Wrapping her arms around his, she leaned her head against his shoulder and looked out at the rain pouring down as they huddled against the stone wall. The kid they had rescued a few days ago was curled in front of them and fast asleep, his glasses fogged up with condensation._

 _"Do you miss your home?" he asked beside her._

 _"Everyday…" she replied. "But I'm glad I still have you."_

 _"Me too…" his voice was soft and sad. "We'll always have each other."_

 _"You promise? You won't forget all about me and leave me on my own?" she looked at him and he held his pinky up to her. She curled her own over his and smiled._

 _"I'll never forget you," he vowed._

 _The rain continued to pelt against the barren ground outside, washing away the devastation that had ruined it. One day, maybe, new life would grow there again and everything would go back to the way it had been. There wouldn't be any more corpses littering the earth, and they'd be able to walk around without worrying that today could be their very last._

 _Maybe, one day, they would look back and remember this as a distant dream as well._

* * *

Cassandra woke up to chatter and opened her eyes to find the boys sitting around the carpeted floor eating from tin cans. She groaned and stretched her legs over the sofa, earning glances her way.

"Cassie!" Minho shot up and went over to her. "Good timing, we were just talking about when we should head out again."

He poked her side out of habit and she flinched.

"Ow! God, Minho!" she cried out angrily and his eyes widened in shock.

"Shuck! I'm so sorry, Cassie! I totally forgot!" he dropped down and hugged her. She grunted as his entire weight crushed her into the sofa and she smacked his back repeatedly with her fingers while kicking her legs up in frustration.

"Minho! It's because you're so freaking heavy that I got this bruise in the first place!" she yelled before scrunching her face and breaking out into a pitiful drawn out whimper.

"Aaw, Cassie," he straightened up and rubbed her head in sympathy but the laughter in his voice was blaringly evident.

"Honestly, I don't know whether I want to throw up, laugh or cry whenever I look at them," Archie remarked.

"All the time, man," Newt said. "That's how I feel all the time."

She swatted Minho away and pushed herself up grumpily to rub her eyes. Then she paused and looked around apprehensively while trying to keep her heart rate at a normal pace.

"Um, guys…" she started hesitantly.

"What is it?" Minho frowned worriedly and the Gladers looked to her again.

"Did I go into a trance or something?" she could feel the anxiety building up in her veins.

"You were talking in French, and then I think you just passed out from exhaustion," Newt told her. "What's wrong?"

"Where… are we?" she examined the room cautiously. "How did we get here? What happened after we left the tunnels?"

"Oh, no," Minho moaned and took hold of her shoulders, the worry on his face doubling in intensity. "What are they doing to you this time?"

She looked at him with horrified eyes. WICKED had definitely done something to her when they took her that first night with Teresa and now her memory blackouts were different. They were getting longer.

"Did something bad happen?" she asked anxiously and looked around again before starting violently. "Where's Thomas?!"

"It's fine, relax," Minho smoothed her hair in a comforting gesture. "He and Brenda just got separated from us. Jorge's trying to find a signal outside to locate them. You figured out yesterday that he was working for WICKED, we're in his safe house."

That didn't come as much of a surprise, she had a feeling that there was something up with the man ever since she first laid eyes on him. Her body started to relax again and she tried to recall as much as she could. Most of it was just a blank, but there were some vague scenes that she was able to remember.

"Okay, okay, yeah," she breathed a sigh of relief. "Maybe I'm just too exhausted; it'll probably come back to me again later."

They all knew that probably wouldn't be the case. Minho told her to have something quick to eat and handed another tin of food to her; it was the same sausage and beans they had brought with them from the tunnel. She scarfed it all down, drank a glass of water and got up to start preparing for their journey ahead.

Jorge came back around half an hour after she had woken up and told them that he managed to pinpoint Thomas' location.

"You're gonna love this, Cassie," Minho dragged a heavy crate over to her and dropped down on the floor next to it.

She went over and knelt by his side, her eyes instantly lighting up excitedly. Her hands reached into the crate and pulled out a long curved sword, examining it thoroughly under the yellow light.

"I've been shucked and went to heaven," she commented and he snickered.

"I thought you'd say that," he smirked widely, then turned to the others. "C'mon, let's find something to equip ourselves with before Cassie takes all the best ones."

"How many does she even need?" Frypan raised an eyebrow just as the girl dumped an entire pile of blades onto the floor to spread out.

"Dude, she goes to war," Minho responded. "Seriously, even I don't wanna mess around with her."

"I like this one," she cradled a katana closely to her.

"It suits you," Newt said as he went over and picked up a random sword. "Brings out your eyes. Merciless. Soulless. Empty as a friggin' black hole."

"Thanks, Newton," she grinned at him. "That's so sweet, I'm blushing."

Minho snickered. "Usually, I wouldn't allow anyone else complimenting her but I'll let it slide this one time, Newt."

"You're so bloody generous, Minho," the blonde rolled his eyes at his friend.

Cassandra couldn't remember a time she had ever felt this elated before as she strapped more knives around her belt and boots. The katana was secured behind her back and she had found some extra gloves in another box. Jorge started explaining how to get to Thomas and Brenda's whereabouts; it would only take them less than an hour.

Then they packed more food to go- dried fruits and meat in little plastic bags- and crawled out of the safe house. Minho and Cassandra emerged onto the dusty street, taking a look around as dawn started to peek over the remnant of buildings that surrounded them. Newt came after them, then Archie and Frypan.

They gathered around the entrance until Jorge finally joined them after rolling the cement slab over the hole again. Surprisingly, the desolate land felt cool in the early morning and Cassandra actually had to put on her jacket. Jorge led them down the street, climbing over a couple of alleyways and walking through houses that were basically just standing walls.

It didn't take them that long to reach their destination and the sky was still a purplish hue above, with only streaks of orange starting to paint the horizon.

"We should split up," Jorge suggested as he checked his device again. "They should be around this area but I can't tell their exact location."

"We'll split up then," Minho nodded his head. "Half of us will and the rest can just wait. Spread out in every direction, then meet back here within the hour."

The Gladers nodded and sounded out their approvals before doing as he had said. Cassandra turned and followed Minho as he headed down the right side of the street. They walked in silence for a while until they were out of sight from the others, then Minho took her hand.

"You sure you're alright?" he looked at her.

"Yeah, I think I'm okay," she sighed slowly. "I haven't been having trances though… that's kinda weird."

"Yeah," he murmured. "You just keep passing out and losing your memories."

She shrugged her shoulders as if it would help to remove the problem. "Whatever, I've had enough of trying to figure out all the weird things that happen to me. Let's just keep an eye out for that idiot boy."

Minho chuckled. "I can't believe you're still hating on him."

"It's a love-hate thing," she quipped. "I just love to hate him."

They crossed the street when they met with a collapsed building that blocked the rest of their path. It instantly felt different. She smelt smoke and piss everywhere; more hungry childish faces watched them through little openings. Splinters of glass littered the fragmented pavement and there were endless piles of debris lining the sides. Every now and then, they heard the odd sound of someone crying or singing, or wailing miserably into the sky. Minho looked around warily, probably regretting having chosen this side of town to walk into.

The rest of the street was in similar condition of decay as they continued their search and about twenty minutes had passed since they left the main group. Minho glanced at her as they walked on.

"You remember when you first came out of the Box back in the Glade?" he asked out of the blue.

She looked at him in mild surprise before smirking slyly. "Please don't tell me you fell in love at first sight with me."

"God, Cassie, I know you're irresistible and all."

He rolled his eyes before pulling her closer to him to mess up her hair and she laughed loudly. When he was done, she smoothed her hair back down but the sparkle in her eyes told him that her joke was worth it.

"That day you came up," he started again. "I had this feeling when I was runnin' the Maze that I had to go back. That someone was waiting for me. It was the weirdest feeling and I've never told anyone about it before."

"That's why you were back early that day," she said and looked at him. "But… why only now?"

"I never really thought much about it back then," he rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't know what it meant either… until now, that is."

"Minho, you're wading dangerously close into soulmate territory," she joked again and he attacked her hair once more.

She couldn't help the breathless laughter that shook her body. Then she suddenly stopped in her tracks when she saw something by the wall, tugging Minho to a halt in front of her. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she stared down at the landmark.

It was a little grave, about the size of a small child, with scratchy writing etched onto the wall above it like it was carved with a knife.

 _Here lies Rex.  
_ _He was a good boy._

She didn't know why, but it made her feel immensely sad as she blinked several times at it. A wave of hopelessness suddenly washed over her and she had to force herself to swallow away the lump in her throat. Minho took a step back to stand next to her and looked down as well.

"Someone must have really loved their dog," he said.

"Dog?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Good boy? Yeah, sounds like it'd be a dog," he gestured.

"That kinda makes me even sadder," she frowned, mouth curving downwards unhappily.

"Aaw, Cassie," he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pressed his cheek against hers, and once again there was laughter in his tone. Her lips moved as she groused wordlessly at him.

Then she felt his body tense and she turned her head to look at him questioningly.

"Look up there," he told her and she followed his gaze.

Her face twisted into a mask of apparent horror as she set her eyes on the sign above the little grave. It looked exactly the same as the silver plaques that littered the walls back in the Maze, but the words were different this time and Cassandra thought it was possibly the worst thing she had ever read.

 **THOMAS, YOU'RE THE REAL LEADER.**

They stared at the inscription written with large capital letters in a stunned silence. The sun had started to peek over the buildings and the rays of light glinted off the polished surface. Finally, Cassandra stirred and shifted her feet uncomfortably.

"Well, congratulations, Minho," she said dryly. "You're off the hook now."

"What the shuck?" he asked, almost angrily. "All this time, I've been doing that shank's work for him? Dude, he owes me big time."

"Minho," she scrunched her face up. "Can you actually imagine the kind of klunk he would lead us in to?"

"Now that you mention it…"

Suddenly a small scuffle broke out on the street half a block away from them. Two men were trying to beat the crap out of each other with rubber chickens that made the stupidest sounds imaginable. It would have been a hilarious sight, if a dozen more Cranks hadn't started to gather around to egg them on maliciously.

"Time to go," Minho said as he pulled her along with him back down the path.

A few of the children had come out of their hiding spots when most of the adults went to watch the debacle behind them. They darted across the streets one by one, trying to scavenge away scraps that were lying around the place. Cassandra held on to Minho's hand tightly as they quickened their paces. Soon, they were back on the other side of the street past the collapsed building and heading in the direction of their rendezvous point.

A few of the search party had returned ahead of them, each reporting that they came to a dead end and had to turn back. None of them saw any signs of Thomas or Brenda. They sat around the broken debris, picking up random things here and there as they waited for the others to return.

"Hey!"

Cassandra looked up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"You hear that?" she frowned incredulously.

"Hey!"

"It's Fry," Archie pointed in the distance as the Cook came running back to them, waving his arms in the air with a wide grin on his face.

"Reckon he found something?" Newt asked.

"I hope so, he looks way too pleased with himself to be running from Cranks," Minho grunted.

The boy in question finally reached them and bent over to catch his breath, taking big gulps of air to fill his lungs. Cassandra threw a small pebble at his foot.

"C'mon, tell us what you got," she said impatiently.

"I found 'em," he gasped. "The both of 'em. In some alleyway back there, they were forced into some kinda Crank party at gunpoint by some blonde dude."

"Told you," Cassandra looked at Minho. "He'll lead us to the shuckiest places imaginable."

Jorge suddenly jumped down from his perch on top of a large mountain of bricks, his boots thumping heavily against the broken concrete. He pumped his fist into a hand and smirked widely.

"Well, let's go get them back."


	20. HELEN

**ACT II SCENE XX  
HELEN**

* * *

 **CASSANDRA ACCIDENTALLY LET OUT** a large yawn which she covered with a hand. Everyone turned to look at her and she raised her hands up. "What?" she snapped. "I couldn't help it."

"Tell us more about this party, Fry," Minho ordered.

"I don't know, man," he shrugged. "I don't know how Cranks party, looked like they were waiting for him to drop by though. Whatever that's supposed to mean."

"Did you see how many were inside? What were they doing?"

"Sounded like there were a lot in there, all crazy and drugged up."

"Let's take them by surprise," Cassandra suggested. "A pre-emptive strike. Shock and Awe."

"I like the sound of that," Newt agreed. "They'd probably be too wasted to put up a fight if we hit them at the right time."

Jorge raised an incredulous eyebrow at them. "Why are you kids acting like we're going to war? They're just a bunch of drunken lunatics."

The Gladers exchanged glances with one another then Minho cocked his head at the man.

"What did you have in mind then?" he asked.

"Nothing actually, ambushing them sounds good to me," the Hispanic man shrugged his shoulders. "Let's head on over and keep an eye out."

Minho looked to her and she shrugged as well, pounding her feet against the rubble beneath and springing up to a stand. Cassandra grabbed her pack and slung it heavily over her shoulder then looked to the others expectantly. The sun was bearing down on them by the time they set out towards the alleyway that Frypan had mentioned. It was giving her a massive migraine but she tried to ignore it.

Now wasn't the time to start acting like a baby.

They took cover in a derelict house right opposite the alley where the party was at. Loud and heavy bass music thumped incessantly in the dry air, which did nothing but to annoy her even more. She felt the pressure on both sides of her skull like someone was screwing a clamp against her head and she reached up to rub her temple in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

"Cassie, you okay?" Minho squeezed her shoulder and she turned to squint at him.

"I think so," she said. "My head just hurts, probably from the god awful sun."

"I hope so," he whispered as he crouched beside her and spied over the broken window pane into the opposite alley. "Wonder how long it'll take for them to get wasted."

"Not too long," Jorge answered. "Cranks know how to party like its their last."

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" she frowned. "I'm impressed, didn't think the old man had it in him."

"You haven't seen anything yet, hermana," he winked at her and her lips twitched into a grimace.

"Ew, gross."

She started to fan herself with a hand, wishing that she had a rubber band to tie her hair with. Her fingers started to play with the knife at her belt and she looked about the room in thought. Newt raised an eyebrow opposite her on the side where he was leaning against a wall on his haunches.

"You look like you're gonna murder someone," he told her.

"I was just thinking…" she started. "Should I ask Fry or Doug to cut my hair for me?"

"Definitely Fry," Minho answered beside her with a laugh. "Doug might accidentally slit your throat; he's used to that, being a Slicer and all."

"Well, Fry?" she raised an eyebrow at the Cook in question. "Can I trust your chopping board skills?"

"Lady, I'm gonna give you the best cut you've ever seen," the boy walked towards her confidently.

Cassandra laughed, throwing an amused glance at Minho and Newt. "I hope so; I don't want to go out there lookin' like a monk!"

"Can I use your sword though? I don't think this knife is sharp enough."

"I am not letting you behead me. I know you think I'm your master chef rival, I ain't falling for that," she looked at him incredulously and he rolled his eyes.

"Well, suit yourself," he said before going around to crouch behind her. "How short do you want it?"

She fiddled with the ends of her dark locks, which had already grown past her collarbone. How her hair managed to grow that quickly was beyond her understanding. Maybe it was because she washed her hair all the time. Cassandra shrugged and measured the length with her finger, stopping to just above her shoulder.

"Right there," she told him.

"I cannot believe you actually have the time to be sitting there to have a hair cut," Archie shook his head.

"I need to see this," Minho leaned back against the wall with a wide smirk.

"Fry, hurry, before I change my mind!" she exclaimed and the Cook gathered a section of her hair. She felt the tug as he sheared off the end, and then did the same thing on both sides. The change of weight around her scalp was immediate and she shook her head, running her fingers through the now short locks.

"How is it?" she grinned at Minho. "He didn't give me a lopsided cut, did he?"

"It's perfect," he told her, taking her hand and pulling her to a stand with him. "I'm afraid to say otherwise."

She punched his arm and turned to Newt who was trying to reign in his laughter. Archie and Doug wore huge grins as they looked at her.

"It's like that time she came back from the Maze," the Runner said.

"What does that mean!" she almost shouted.

"It's just hair, it'll grow back in time," Newt snorted.

"Oh, my God, what have you done?!" she rounded on Frypan.

"What? You told me to do it like that!" he raised his hands in the air, dropping the knife to the ground.

"We're kidding, Cassie," Minho wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he laughed at her. "It looks fine. I like you with short hair."

"I need to see it for myself," she grasped her hair and looked around; spotting a flight of stairs that was still intact. She immediately darted forwards to it and ascended the steps to the first floor of the house. Minho called after her before following her upstairs. The wooden floorboards creaked loudly as she put her weight on them and she tried to tread as carefully as she could.

The corridor ahead of her led into four rooms, with the first door on her right leading towards a bathroom that was disgusting and full of mould. She was definitely not going in there even if her life depended on it. The door opposite it was locked, or jammed stuck, so she moved on to the next one just as Minho arrived on the landing. He watched her with a raised eyebrow as she snooped around the long abandoned home.

Only the last room looked to be in an acceptable condition and she pushed the door open wider to step inside. It looked like it had belonged to a girl; there was a white vanity table next to the door and a large matching wardrobe opposite it. The chipped and faded wall had once been painted a pale mauve and stained posters of handsome boys littered one side of the room. She walked towards the vanity and wiped the dust off the mirror's surface with her sleeve.

Her hair didn't look too bad but now she looked like she had lived in a jungle with wolves.

Minho stepped inside and looked around, stopping in the very middle of the room. There was a dirty four poster bed behind her with a ripped canopy that hung pitifully from the wooden frame. She continued to fuss over her appearance in the mirror when there was a loud crack of wood splintering apart. Turning around, she found Minho's foot had gone straight through the floorboard underneath him and she tried to hold in her snort.

"Minho, I think you need to lose some weight," she said with a completely straight face.

"Are you calling me fat?!" he looked at her in mock outrage.

She bit her bottom lip in a futile effort to stop the laughter but her body shook from it. He lifted his foot out of the hole and cocked his head to the side before bending down.

"Whoa. Look at this bad boy, Cassie," he said as he reached into the hole and pulled out an M16 assault rifle. Her eyes widened in excitement and she darted forwards to examine it.

"Holy crap, are there still rounds in it?" she dropped to the floor next to him.

He cocked the weapon and pulled the charging handle all the way back, then turned it onto its side to look into the firing chamber. "It's empty," he said. "Hang on."

Minho reached back into the hole and pulled out a couple of magazines.

"Oh, yeah, baby," he grinned at her and she returned it.

Setting the magazines aside, he punched the empty one out, rode the bolt forward while keeping pressure on the charging spring then cocked the safety on. He slid a new magazine below the trigger and there was a click as the catch engaged and he slapped the bottom to make sure it stayed put. Positioning the butt of the stock against his shoulder, he peered through the scope and glanced sideways at her with a small smirk.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"Like so freaking hot, I wanna kiss you right now," she replied candidly.

His smirk grew even wider as he set the rifle back down and pulled her forwards to press his lips against hers. Cassandra launched herself onto him, gripping the collar of his jacket and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. They fell back onto the floor with a heavy thud and heard Newt shout from below, something like "Not again!"

They laughed breathlessly as she straddled his hips, bending down to smother him in more kisses. Along his neck, his jaw and face. She didn't even care if he was covered in dust and sweat; she just wanted him so much. Minho grabbed her around the middle, pulling her down against him and he caught her lips once more in a heavy liplock. They breathed each other in, not wanting the moment to ever end so they could continue holding each other like that.

His hand snuck up her shirt and she felt his warm hands along her sides. They were in the middle of a gigantic freaking desert, what do they need clothes for? What do they need all these barriers for? Her fingers started to tug against his shirt frantically and Minho pushed himself up into a sitting position. She dropped backwards into his lap with him between her legs.

Their jackets laid discarded beside them and she bit his lip between her teeth, breathing heavily as her fingers ran through his hair. His touches burnt her skin, a blazing hot trail wherever they ran. He was like a conflagration that threatened to devour her whole but she loved every second of it.

"Cassie," he whispered, his voice so raw. "I think we need to stop."

"I can't stop," she breathed against his lips, then stole another kiss from them.

He groaned softly. "You're killin' me."

She pulled back and looked at him with dark eyes that matched his own. Her lips grazed his as she leaned in closer.

"I don't want you to stop."

His eyes tightened and eyebrows pulled together briefly before he was kissing her again, his muscular arms wrapping around her and he was laying her back onto the floor. His hand grabbed hold of her wrist and pinned it above her head as his lips trailed wantingly across her neck.

"We can't do this here," he told her.

"I know," she replied almost sadly.

Raucous laughter broke outside from the direction of the party and a door slammed shut, muffling the sounds once more. Minho hovered above her as they tried to get their heaving chests under control again. He leaned down and buried his face against her neck on the crook of her shoulder, tickling her with his warm breaths.

"I'm really tempted to, you know," he said right beside her ear.

She laughed breathlessly. "I know. Me too."

"But Newt would murder us," he pushed himself up and gave her a crooked grin.

As if he'd been waiting for the perfect opportunity, the blonde downstairs barked. "Minho! Cass! Get your butts back down here!"

Cassandra had to press a hand against her mouth to suppress her squeal of laughter. He rolled off her and collapsed on the floor, shuddering violently in silent hysterics. She slapped his chest, covering her face as her sides started to sting but she couldn't stop laughing.

"I swear he's spying on us," she wheezed.

"How does he do it?" Minho snorted as a fresh wave of laughter took over him again.

"Stop it! Minho, stop it!" she smacked him weakly, falling on top of him and feeling like she was going to pass out from deliriousness.

He wrapped his arms around her and it took a long moment for them to recompose themselves. Groaning, but with a huge grin still on his face, he got up on his elbows and looked down at her. She slipped down from his chest and laid her head on his belly, the buckle of his belt pressing against the back of her ear. They stared at each other until eventually, Cassandra sat up. She leaned forwards and kissed him fiercely one more time. They pulled back, noses still rubbing lightly together, and peered back at each other with heavy eyes.

"Let's go rescue Golden Boy."


	21. PHRIXUS

**ACT II XXI  
PHRIXUS**

* * *

 **NEWT LOOKED UP AS THEY** descended the stairs and Cassandra hopped down from the bottom step. Minho joined her with a heavy thump, his shiny new rifle slung over his shoulder. The Gladers stared at it with wide, astonished eyes. He beamed proudly around at them as if he just won a prized trophy.

"Whoa, holy crap, where did you find that?" Aris exclaimed.

"I swear to God," Minho started. "Weapons are attracted to Cassie. They just find her everywhere."

"I should have been called The Metal Detector," she said.

"So does that explain the sounds we heard upstairs?" Newt raised an eyebrow at them with a sly smile on his face. The boys around them started to snicker and Cassandra felt heat rush up to her face. Her mouth twitched as she sniffed but she managed to maintain her poker face.

"Maybe," Minho cocked his head back with that smug smirk of his.

"Not helping," she muttered at him while rubbing the back of her neck.

"Okay, kids, wrap it up," Jorge walked back into the room from who knows where. "Let's think of what we're going to do next."

"We storm the place, get our boy Thomas out, and we make a run for it to the hills. How 'bout that?" Minho raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds good to me," Newt nodded.

"We need a contingency plan," Jorge sighed at them. "We don't know what might happen when we go in there guns blazing."

"Every man for himself?" Frypan suggested jokingly.

The man sighed in dismay once more. "Most of them would be drunk off their asses, but maybe a couple would be sober enough to run away and call for reinforcements. We can't stay there for too long. We get Brenda and your friend Thomas, then we need to get out of there as fast as we can. Get to open ground; the Cranks hate it out there."

"Okay," Cassandra shrugged and took a seat on the last step of the stairs. "When do we go?"

"We'll go in when the music stops," he looked out the window. "They should be drowning in their hangovers by then."

Minho sat down next to her while the others went back to whatever they were doing before, which was mostly talking about nothing. It was all they could do to pass the time while they waited there. Archie was telling them about the horror story he went through while they had been out scouting earlier. Apparently he saw a couple of Cranks making out or something after trying to kill each other.

They waited for almost an hour when the bass stopped thumping against the walls in the opposite alley. Minho stood up with a ready look in his eyes and a smile playing about his lips. Jorge darted forwards to the window to look out again, adjusting his bag strap over his shoulder then pulling out the sword from his belt.

"Okay, muchachos," he turned to look at them. "You know the plan."

Everyone started to get up on their feet and Cassandra checked that her pistol was secured to her belt. She drew her katana, the blade making a satisfying sound as it scraped lightly against its scabbard. The Gladers all held weapons in their hands as they gathered in a circle just before the door. Minho stood in the lead and turned around to address them.

"No dinkin' around, got it?" he said. "Stay alert. We go in, get our shanks back and get out. Simple."

"Perfect," Newt commented. "Let's go."

They nodded and Minho threw the door open before exiting onto the street. Their group quickly crossed into the alleyway and peeked through a window into the basement flat. Cassandra couldn't see much through the thick dust and smudged grime but there wasn't a hint of movement that she could detect from inside. They really must have passed out from too much partying. She wondered what that must be like, to lose oneself in complete abandon.

Minho gestured for them to take their places as he crept his way forward and pressed his ear against the door. She didn't know why but her heart was beating hard against her chest and she had to suppress a shiver. Frypan leaned over above her to mouth to Minho the secret knock.

"Okay, everyone ready?" he whispered, glancing towards them briefly.

He didn't bother to wait for the slow nods of approvals before bringing his hand to the door. Three slow knocks, three fast ones and two knuckle taps. There was a brief silence then they all heard the creak of wooden floorboards from inside and a pair of heavy footsteps drawing closer.

The door opened to reveal a giant Crank of a man with long white hair, his body covered in piercings and tattoos. He took one look at Minho and frowned deeply.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" he asked gruffly.

"Surprise, shuckface," Minho told him, then quickly drew back his fist and slammed it into the man's face. He staggered backwards, holding his nose with a hand and blood was already dripping between his fingers.

Immediately, they swarmed inside with their weapons held up. The first thing that hit her was the god awful smell of sweat and vomit. She stood in front of the doorway next to Minho and resisted the urge to throw up herself. The Gladers behind them were much more vocal about it though.

"Oh, God, not again," Frypan cried, shaking his head.

"Am I the only one who has a sudden need to bathe myself in bloody bleach?"

"Nope," Aris replied.

"Okay, nobody move!" Minho yelled but of course they did the exact opposite of that.

Cassandra started when the huge man recovered himself and threw his body at the boy. He pressed Minho's face against the sticky carpeted floor while growling menacingly. They struggled briefly before she took a step forward and pointed her sword under the man's chin. He instantly froze when he felt the cold metal and she felt the surge of power as he slowly stood up from Minho and held his hands in the air.

"'Atta boy," she mocked, glancing at Minho to see if he was okay. There were burn marks on his face now.

Jorge had come over to keep the giant tattooed man under control, he seemed like he'd do some pretty nasty damage if they didn't keep an eye on him. A few of the other Cranks started screaming and rushed about the room trying to escape. It was utter chaos and Cassandra had to throw off a couple of crazed Cranks that grabbed hold of her. One of them bit her on the arm which prompted her to knock him out cold with the hilt of her katana.

The others were trying to hold down the exit but a few managed to slip past and flee up to the street. Frypan was yelling at a sobbing girl to stop jumping on him and Newt managed to get a scratch on his cheek after a guy tried to claw his face. Aris was pressed against the wall as a rabid Crank with a metal collar chained around his neck snapped his teeth in the boy's face. Archie went over and smacked the daylights out of him with a wooden board.

Minho was looking around the room, trying to pinpoint Thomas when three more Cranks emerged from a basement cellar on the side. They started to attack; a girl with a rusted screwdriver lunged forwards at Minho.

Cassandra quickly interceded, tripping the girl up and whacking her on the head for her pathetic attempt. Minho took care of the ugly guy with a knife but the blonde man that was with them managed to escape. She turned to look for him, frowning in concern, but Minho was calling her.

"Cassie, c'mon," he cocked his head to the cellar and she quickly went over.

They descended the stairs noisily and reached the bottom to find Thomas staring at them with wide eyes, tied up in a chair and looking like he'd just been drugged. Brenda was in a similar state with her mouth gagged in the corner on the floor. Cassandra's lips turned upwards in an amused smile just as Minho smirked widely.

"You guys look comfy," he said.

"What… how…" Thomas continued to stare at them like they were apparitions.

"We'd just found you. Did you think we were gonna let these bunch of shuckfaces do anything to you?" he asked as he walked over. "You owe us. Big-time."

Minho bent down behind Thomas and started to cut the tape that bound the boy with his knife. Cassandra went over to help Brenda out with her predicament. Thomas grinned as he looked around at the both of them. "What do you mean you'd just found us?"

"Well, technically, Frypan found you," Cassandra said over her shoulder.

"Jorge's been leading us through the city, got some food, rested up a bit in his hideout," Minho explained further. "Oh, yeah, we know your little secret now."

Brenda turned to her with a sceptical look.

"Yeah, sorry for bustin' your cover," Cassandra frowned without sincerity.

"Wait, what?" Thomas blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"They work for WICKED," Minho stood up when he was done freeing Thomas and gestured to Brenda. "Her and Jorge."

Brenda immediately stood up when her binds were all pulled off and took a step towards Thomas before halting with hesitation. There was a flash of fear and something else in her eyes.

"How are they-" Thomas stood up, swayed then fell back into the chair. "Oh, man. Anybody got some aspirin?"

Minho and Cassandra laughed at him.

"Toughen up, Golden Boy," she told him. "Be a man. Do the right thing."

"What the shuck does that even mean?" he asked and groaned, holding his head between his hands.

Brenda crossed her arms and went to stand by the stairs. Thomas gathered himself and looked back up at them before his eyes rested on the girl.

"Brenda?" he started. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she said crisply. "Let's go. I wanna see Jorge."

"What were you guys talking about her and Jorge working for WICKED?" he turned back to the other two.

"He told us that they were meant to guide us through the Scorch," Minho told him. "That you and Teresa were too important to get killed before the Trials started."

"I thought we were already on the Trials?" he frowned and his head looked like it was about to explode from the strain. "Is this true, Brenda?"

The girl was silent for a moment before she finally replied, her voice small and sad. "Yes."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Cassandra said quickly. "For the time being, we can trust them to guide us to the safe haven. Whatever happens along the way, we'll deal with it then. We need to get outta here now."

"Yeah, dude," Minho nodded. "Headache or no headache, we need to go. No telling how long we can keep the shuck prisoners up there quiet and still."

"Prisoners?" Thomas looked at them funny.

"Whatever you wanna call 'em- we can't risk letting them go until we get out. We've got a dozen guys holding more than twenty. And they aren't too happy. They might start thinking they can take us pretty soon. Once they get rid of their hangovers."

"They might be hungover but they're still crazy," Cassandra added. "One of them freakin' bit me!"

"That's gross," Thomas told her when she showed them the red welt on her arm. "Maybe you're gonna start eating our brains soon."

"Ha-ha, very funny," she rolled her eyes at him.

He attempted to smile at his own joke but it came out more like a grimace. The boy started to stand up again then closed his eyes, scrunching his face up with effort. He opened his eyelids and looked at them seriously with a quick nod. "I'll be fine."

Minho breathed out a laugh of disbelief. "Such a man. Come on."

Cassandra went ahead of them, skipping back up the stairs. She turned around to see Minho exchange a look with Thomas regarding Brenda before shrugging and ascending the rest of the way to join her at the top. The stench hit her in full force once again as she rejoined the others, holding her katana up and sweeping it around at the gaunt faces that stared back at them hauntingly. Was this what life as a Crank was doomed to be? Wasting away in their own filth? It was disgusting.

She crossed a few bodies that laid littered on the floor and stood next to Next.

"Did you find him?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah, but he's hungover," she snickered.

"Of course he is."

Finally, Thomas emerged after Brenda and he actually managed to smile when he saw the rest of the Gladers again. "What happened to you guys? Where have you been?"

"Hey, it's Thomas!" Frypan shouted excitedly. "As ugly and alive as ever!"

Newt went over and clapped him on the back with a delighted beam. "Glad you're not bloody dead, Tommy. I'm really, really glad."

Thomas started firing a few more questions at them about what they'd been doing as well as Barkley and his group. Then he looked around the room and seemed to realise something.

"Minho, Cass," he whispered and gestured for them to come over. "The guy with really short blonde hair. Seemed like the leader. What happened to him?"

Minho shrugged, looking at Cassandra and Newt if they knew the answer. The blonde shook his head and she cocked hers to the side.

"I think he got away," she said. "He came out of that basement with his buddies. We took those two out but he disappeared after that."

"A handful did too," Newt told them. "We couldn't stop 'em all."

"What's wrong with him?" Minho raised an eyebrow. "Is he a threat?"

"He had a gun," Thomas pointed out. "He's the only one I've seen with something worse than a knife. And he wasn't very nice."

"So?" Minho made a disgruntled face. "We'll be out of this stupid city in an hour anyway. And we should go. Now."

"Okay, I want to get out of here before he comes back," Thomas said eagerly.

"Yeah, man, let's go," Cassandra nodded before turning around and waving her hands at the others as if she was corralling them. "C'mon, guys, move out."

"Listen up," Minho addressed the Cranks as he took a step back with them. "We're leaving now. Don't follow us, you'll be fine. Follow us, you'll be dead. Pretty easy choice, don't ya think?"

Cassandra held her katana in one hand and her gun in the other as she looked around warily. If the blonde dude that had Thomas worried about was still out there with a gun of his own, she thought it would be a good idea to keep an eye out for him. Minho nodded to her as they stood in front of the door and waited for everyone to file out.

"Hey, Thomas!" he yelled. "Dude, wake up! We're leaving!"

The boy started and looked at them, blinking his eyes a couple more time. Man, he sure was out of it. That must have been some kind of potent drug that they fed him. He shuffled over to them; noticed Brenda hadn't stirred and poked her to move along with the others. Finally, they backed out of the room and into the alleyway.

"Okay, we got everyone together," Minho said. "Now let's make a run for it to the shuck mountains. There's only about a mile left. These Cranks aren't so hard to fight after all. So let's-"

"Hey!"

Everyone spun around to look at the source of the annoyingly screechy voice behind them. It was the blonde guy that Thomas had been talking about before. The one with the gun, which he now held in his hands pointed straight at Thomas' chest.

"Shuck, Thomas-!" Cassandra started, reaching out to pull him away.

A loud bang, like the crack of thunder, filled up the entire alley with its ferocity. Thomas cried out in pain, his body falling to the ground.


	22. RHADAMANTHYS

**ACT II SCENE XXII  
RHADAMANTHYS**

* * *

 **"OH, HELL NO!"** Minho shouted next to her and the next thing she knew, he was flinging himself at the blonde man.

"That asshole!" she rushed after him, grabbing hold of the man and disarming the gun from him before he had the chance to fire it again.

Minho beat the crap out of him with his fists and the sound of bones cracking resounded in the humid air. She kicked the man for good measure as well before Minho grabbed his collar roughly and pulled him onto his knees. He looked to Cassandra with heated eyes and gave a hard nod. She unlocked the safety of her gun and pressed the barrel to the man's temple.

"W-Wait…"

She pulled the trigger and looked away from the splatter of blood. Minho made a disgusted sound as he shoved the body back down where it crumpled down the staircase and wiped his hands on his pants. Cassandra bent down and picked up the rusted gun that had belonged to the blonde man, shoving it into a back pocket.

"Thomas," she turned back around. "Are you okay?"

The boy replied her with a pained groan. Newt was at his side, squeezing his arm where a bright red spot of blood was blooming across his shirt. "H-He shot me," the boy responded in a numb daze.

She exchanged a worried glance with Minho before heading over to take a look at the damage. She could see a hint of the silver glob lodged beside the joint of his shoulder, right next to the armpit. Frypan handed a clean shirt to Newt, who pressed it against the wound. Thomas cried out and whimpered in pain. It actually managed to twist her insides with sympathy.

"We need to carry him out of here," she said, looking up with a deep frown.

"But he's in so much pain," Newt turned to her with concerned eyes. "The bullet looks like it went in pretty deep."

"I can get that sucker out of there," Jorge said. "But I'll need fire."

"No way, I can do it," she scrunched her face up at him.

"But do you have steady hands, hermana?"

"You want me to show it to you?"

"Hey, stop it," Brenda interrupted them. "We need to go right now, I can hear them getting up inside."

Cassandra and the others paused for a breath to listen and it did sound like hurried footsteps darting around inside the basement room. Minho cursed under his breath and stood up, peering into the nearest window. She looked back at Thomas, his face glistening with sweat and drenching the collar of his shirt.

"We can't do this here," Newt said, his voice saturated with panic.

"Okay, let's get out of this shuck city," Minho said urgently. "We'll carry him, Cassie, Newt. On the count of three."

They positioned themselves with their hands under Thomas' body. Minho had his legs while she and Newt held up his upper body. He started to count down and the flurry below grew louder.

"Three!" Minho said and they raised him up in the air.

Thomas let out another strangled cry of pain just as the basement door burst wide open. The big guy with the white hair was the first to exit, his eyes landing on the body on the ground before flicking up to them with lunatic rage.

"Go, go, go!" Jorge yelled at them, waving his hand towards the street. "Down on the right! We'll slow these guys down!"

"Brenda!" she hurriedly called to the other girl. "The dude's gun in my back pocket, take it!"

She nodded gratefully and grabbed the gun from her, clicking the safety unlock. They started firing at the Cranks that were running in their direction. Frypan and Archie ran by their sides, keeping a look out for any other unwanted visitors as they fled. Aris and a few others stayed behind to help Jorge before the man told them to go.

Thomas had passed out as they exited the alleyway and ran down the cracked pavement of the street. A couple of gunshots sounded from behind them and then a large group of footsteps gaining behind.

"Shuck, shuck!" Frypan cried as he looked over his shoulder. "They're all chasing after us!"

"Oh, for God's sake," Minho breathed. "Frypan, take over."

They jostled around with Thomas' body as Frypan grabbed his legs and ran with them. She looked behind as Minho grabbed his rifle and took aim. He shot three rounds and a couple of Cranks tumbled to the ground behind Jorge and Brenda. The other Gladers sped past him as he continued to shoot at the horde.

"Archie, take him," she said, letting go as soon as the boy got a proper hold of Thomas' torso.

She turned around and grabbed the pistol from her belt and joined Minho to help cover the others. Jorge and Brenda finally passed them and they shot down a few more Cranks that were in the lead. Then they turned around and sprinted after the others. Mad screams and insane laughter chased after them as they tore through the road, jumping over piles of debris.

"They're gaining on us!" she shouted. "Let's split up, get them off the others' trail!"

"Do you know the way outta here?" Brenda glanced at them.

"Brenda, come with me," Cassandra gestured. "Minho, go with Jorge!"

"Roger that," Jorge gave a salute.

"Cassie," Minho grasped her arm. "Race you."

"Deal," she smirked in reply before they separated ways.

She and Brenda dove to the left, cutting through a few ruined houses. Minho and Jorge ran down the opposite alleyway and disappeared around the corner. Her breathing came out in laboured gasps and her mouth tasted like cardboard as she followed Brenda through the ruins of the city. The Cranks were still hot on their heels as they emerged back onto the street.

The Gladers were up ahead of them but they continued leading the wild lunatics on a goose chase through another building. Brenda started to climb up a pile of bricks and corrogated metal towards the second floor, then jumping across a chasm that tore the building in half. Cassandra went after her, stumbling a little on the other side before quickly pushing herself into a sprint again.

The Maze was nothing compared to this crap.

"They're stubborn, aren't they?" she grunted as she caught up to Brenda.

"Tell me about it," the girl growled breathlessly.

They stopped when they reached the end of a corridor where a large broken window stood. Cassandra turned around to find that about half a dozen Cranks were still running in their direction.

"I'm so sick of this, let's take them out," she said, drawing her katana.

"I'm in," Brenda smirked at her as she pulled out the gun again.

She shot three rounds, two of them hitting their targets and they collapsed to the ground. One of her victims fell onto a jutting pipe, impaling himself through the torso. Four more to go, Cassandra thought, as she stood ready. The remaining Cranks met them with furious screeches and she dodged a rusted screwdriver, rolling to the side and slashing across the abdomen of a man in denim shorts.

She sprang up and kicked him through a hole in the wall where he fell off a ledge. Another Crank immediately hurtled towards her, claws swiping through the air at her face. She raised an arm to shield herself, catching a nasty scratch before she sidestepped him and swung her katana twice, lacerating the man across the back as he passed. He turned around to attack once more but she slashed at his throat. Blood splattered from the open wound across the wall and her shirt before she spun back around.

Brenda had taken down the other and was now facing off the ponytail girl with the screwdriver. Cassandra ran forwards, driving her sword straight through the Crank's middle, twisting the blade before pulling it out with a grunt. The Crank fell to the ground with a loud cry and blood rushed out in a pool around her.

"Great teamwork," Brenda smiled widely at her as Cassandra sheathed her sword.

"Couldn't have done it better myself," she grinned back and they gave each other a congratulatory high five.

"C'mon, let's catch up to the rest," Brenda said, stepping towards the broken window.

The girl jumped down and landed on another mountain of debris. Cassandra followed after her and they skittered the rest of the way to the pavement. They started running down the straight road in front of them until they caught sight of the group right at the outskirt of the city. Brenda and Cassandra finally reached them and bent over to catch their breaths. It looked like the group had just stopped themselves.

"Cass," Newt waved her over as he dropped to the ground next to Thomas' repose body. "He's burning up but his lips have gone blue."

"Maybe he's in hypovolemic shock," Aris said. "We need to keep him warm."

"Dude, it's like a hundred degrees out here," Frypan looked at him weirdly.

"I mean like, just cover him up with something," Aris shook his head. "And lift his feet up."

"Well, I'm not gonna argue with that," Cassandra said as she bent down and lifted Thomas' legs in the air. "We don't have anything to cover him up with so he's gonna have to just bake in the sun."

"It's gonna set soon though," Newt craned his head up and squinted at the abominable sky.

"Damn, where's Minho and Jorge?" she frowned and looked around, straining her eyes into the distance. "We need to get further away from the city."

"There they are!" Doug shouted.

She turned in the direction he was pointing to and saw the two heading in their direction with another group of Cranks snapping at their heels.

"Not again, man," she groaned in exasperation.

"It's fine," Newt placed a hand on her shoulder. "Take care of Tommy and give us some bloody glory for once."

"What a soldier," she snickered at him.

He threw her a boyish grin and grabbed the sword at his hip, shouting for the others to follow him. The Gladers charged forwards, their weapons gleaming boldly through the fervid air. Brenda dropped down to the ground next to her and they watched as the boys battled it out on the dusty scorched land. The sun started to dip beneath the horizon on their left, throwing a red glow across the scene that darkened the spilled blood on the ground.

It felt familiar to her but she couldn't quite recall when and where the similarity came from. A few months ago, she could never imagine Doug or even gentle Ed to be able to fight with such cold-blooded viciousness. It had only been a little more than half a year since she had met any of them since before whenever their memories had been wiped. She could still remember that first time when she had killed the pig in the Blood House and thought how horrible that had been.

Now she was covered in blood, her hands stained to the bone with the countless things she had slaughtered. Yet none of that bothered her in the slightest.

"Cassie," Minho came up to her when the last of the Cranks had been put down. He threw her an amused smirk as she was still holding Thomas' legs up in the air.

"He's like, I don't know, shutting down or something," she tried to explain.

"Let's move," Jorge told them. "Half a mile more should be good."

"Okay," Minho nodded and went over to help carry Thomas up again. Jorge went to help them this time and they continued to run deeper into the desert.

By the time they had stopped next to an outcrop of crumbling rocks, twilight had descended on them. They laid Thomas down and immediately started to discuss what they should do with his bullet wound.

"We need to get it out," Jorge told them. "Who knows what kinda gunk that thing was caked in?"

"Plus we need to stop the bleeding too," Aris pointed out.

"Is he gonna die? Will he make it?" Newt asked worriedly, glancing back at the boy on the ground.

"We'll just have to see," Jorge said. "But right now, we can only hope that cauterising the wound will help with any possible infection."

"Let's do it," Cassandra frowned. "Let's get a fire started."

"Cassie," Minho took her hand. "You can do it, right?"

She looked to Jorge who raised an eyebrow at her. "Of course I can. I've done it before."

"Alright then," the man started to look around. "Find some stuff we can burn up."

They separated to look around. There were a few dried weeds along the outcrop that they plucked out to burn with the blood stained shirt that had been used as a temporary dressing. Jorge took out a matchbox from his jacket and lit a stick before throwing it onto the pile.

She could still hear cries of insanity and screaming in the distance from the direction of the city. The fire crackled in front of her as she held her knife in it. The heat was slowly reaching the hilt and she stared into the flickering embers. After a while, she looked up at them when the blade started to grow red hot.

"I wish there was like alcohol or something to pour on him," she said.

"Oh, yeah, I have some," Brenda reached under her shirt and took out a small bottle with swirling dark liquid inside. "Stole it before we headed out of the party."

"Whiskey, nice," Cassandra grunted out a laugh as she sniffed it. "Okay, here goes nothing."

"Someone better hold him down. Arms and legs," Jorge pointed.

Minho, Frypan, Newt and Aris went into positions as she carefully walked over to the boy. She knelt down, holding the blazing knife and whiskey bottle in both hands. Thomas was awake. He peered up at her with fevered eyes that didn't seem to actually register that she was there.

"Sorry, Tommy," she told him. "This is gonna hurt like shuck."

She poured the alcohol onto the wound, hoping it would wash away any impurities. Thomas' body tensed and he let out a moan of agony. Then she dug the knife into his shoulder and he cried out horribly before passing out again. Cassandra felt the tip of her blade press against the chunk of metal in his flesh then twisted the knife down until it popped out. She then quickly pressed the side of the blade against the opening. The smell of burnt skin filled her nostrils and it almost made her gag out of reflex. Brenda tore a strip of cloth from another clean shirt and handed it to her. Cassandra wrapped it around his shoulder and knotted it securely before dropping back to the ground.

"Okay, done," she breathed and wiped the beads of sweat around her face.

"Now all we gotta do is wait," Jorge said.


	23. PHAETON

**ACT II SCENE XXIII  
PHAETON**

* * *

 **MINHO HELD HER CLOSE** to him as they sat in a corner of a little grotto to the side. The Gladers took the opportunity to rest and catch their breaths while they waited for Thomas to show signs that their impromptu surgery had gone for better or worst. So far he was still clammy and his body had started shivering a few minutes ago.

Brenda sat next to him and held his hand, checking his temperature or pulse every now and then. Cassandra bit her lip as she looked at them, then turned her eyes upwards to the ocean of stars above their heads. It reminded her of the Glade, someone spraying glitter over a canvas of nothing.

But it was real. Everything that they had just gone through was ultimately real.

"Cassie," Minho whispered in her ear. She turned to face him and his lips were so close to hers.

"Hm?" she murmured almost drowsily, as if his presence alone made her feel drunk.

"How are you?" he nuzzled his nose against her cheek and she chuckled at the absurdity of how normal his question sounded.

"I'm fine," she whispered back. "What about you?"

"I can't sleep," he told her and hugged her closer with a small sigh.

"My poor baby," she teased, reaching her hand up to caress his face. "Want me to sing you a lullaby?"

"I've never heard you sing before," he smirked. "Sing me a song, baby."

She took a moment to think about it while racking her brain for a song that she could remember. Minho looked at her expectantly and she grinned up at him.

"Did you lose what won't return?  
Did you love but never learn?  
The fire's out but still it burns  
And no one cares, there's no one there."

Archie and Frypan started wolf whistling from above them, perched on a ledge right on top of their little nook. Newt sat up straight in front of them and grinned brightly.

Then he started to sing the same song as well.

"Did you find it hard to breathe?  
Did you cry so much that you could barely see?  
In the darkness all alone  
And no one cares, there's no one there."

"How do the both of you know this song?" Minho asked and they shrugged at the same time before singing the chorus together.

Newt sang the next verse and she sat up, taking Minho's hands in hers and looking into his eyes. "Sing with me," she whispered before Newt started on the chorus again. Minho listened carefully before he was singing along with them.

"Well did you see flares in the sky?  
Were you blinded by the light?  
Did you feel the smoke in your eyes?  
Did you? Did you?  
Did you see the sparks filled with hope?  
You are not alone  
Cause someone's out there, sending out flares."

Soon the little outcrop was bursting with song as the other boys joined in and they laughed loudly when it was over. Minho chuckled against her hair as he leaned back; she had no idea where they learnt the song from but it felt like a little piece of home.

"Eve would have been so proud," she could hear Aris say close by. "Y'all would make excellent Dancers."

Cassandra looked at Minho and they burst out into another fit of laughter at the imagery the boy had conjured in their minds.

"Guys," Brenda looked up at them with wide eyes. "I hate to break a happy moment, but he's burning up real bad."

They stopped immediately and turned their attention to the sick boy lying on the ground. Cassandra quietly stood up and went over to kneel down opposite Brenda to press her palm against Thomas' forehead.

It was worse than bad- he felt like a furnace.

"Shuck," she whispered. Minho and Newt were already standing behind her when she turned back around. To think that they had been enjoying themselves just a minute ago when Thomas was on the verge of death. "We gotta do something."

"What can we do?" Minho frowned in a mix of hopelessness and worry.

"He needs medicine, but there's no buggin' hospital or whatever we can raid around here," Newt said.

"There was some kinda abandoned factory west of here," Frypan said. "I spotted it when we ran past earlier."

"Maybe there could be medical supplies? A first aid kit or something?" Newt suggested.

"We don't know what could be out there, man," Minho pointed.

"Well, do you wanna just let Tommy die then?"

"I'm not saying that," he said before lowering his voice to a whisper and leaned towards the blonde. "Remember we have a potential serial killer on the loose too."

"We should go check it out," Cassandra said, surprising them.

"Cassie, think about this for a sec," Minho looked at her with brows pulled together.

"I can't just sit around here anyway," she stood up and let out a sigh. "Let's go, maybe we'll find something useful. Thomas could be dying!"

He reached over to squeeze her shoulder worriedly and gave her a significant look. "Cassie… it's dangerous out there. Maybe you should stay here."

"Minho, that's even more reason for me to go," she bit her lip and he sighed heavily.

"I'd feel safer with her around," Newt shrugged and Minho threw him an annoyed glare.

"I can take care of myself," she told him.

"I know that," his face pinched with consternation. "But you're a magnet for trouble."

"I'm also a magnet for cool stuff," she gestured at the rifle back in the grotto. "You need me to sniff out for treasure."

He sighed again and took her hand. "Promise to stay close to me."

"Of course," she grinned.

"Okay, guys, any volunteers?" Minho turned to survey the others.

Some of the boys were lying on the ground and looked ready to nod off to sleep any second. Archie and Frypan raised their hands opposite them from their perch. Aris stood up and volunteered as well. Minho nodded his head. "That should be enough. We'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Hey," Jorge took a step forwards from behind a corner; his eyes were fixed on both Minho and Cassandra. "You kids be careful out there."

They gathered their stuff and started across the barren land again. A slight breeze blew against their skin and sent tufts of dust swirling around them. It took them about twenty minutes trekking across the dark landscape before the factory came within their reach. Darkness swallowed it whole, making it look like just a shadow against backdrop of the starry sky.

As they reached it, they could see that there were a lot of windows that had been smashed into. They walked through the front entrance, their boots crunching against broken glass and debris. Each of them clicked on their torchlights and shone it carefully around the main hall. The ceiling reached high above them and then they walked deeper into the building.

"We should split up," Minho said in a hushed tone. "In pairs, just to be safe."

Everyone nodded and started going their separate ways. Minho took her hand and led her to an opening in front of them. It was deathly silent the further in they walked, with only the sound of their footsteps bouncing off the walls. She didn't dare to speak, afraid that something might hear her voice.

The corridor eventually extended out into another large room with two doors on both sides and some kind of conveyor belt in the middle. They looked around; there were a few crates scattered here and there, along with some old furniture that was still intact. Minho rifled through a desk as she walked around on the other side.

After a few minutes, they heard footsteps heading their way from the exit on the right. Cassandra looked at Minho in alarm and he gestured for her to go over to him. They stationed themselves on both sides of the opening and waited.

Someone said something and they saw a glint of silver.

"Hey, look at-"

Minho pounced and there was a strangled yell as he fell on top of Frypan with his knife drawn.

"Dude!" the boy shouted angrily. "Are you crazy?! You could have taken out my eye with that thing!"

"Oh, it's you," Minho looked at him before getting off and standing up again.

Frypan complained quietly as he picked himself off the ground and they stepped back into the large room.

"What is that thing?" Archie pointed at the conveyor belt.

"Dunno," Cassandra shrugged. "Looks like it sends things up? Or down?"

"You found anything around here?" Frypan asked.

"We were going through all the crap," Minho pointed. "I was just about to pry that shuck cabinet open."

"I'll help," Archie said and the both of them headed over to the corner.

"C'mon," Cassandra waved a hand at Frypan. "Let's see what's in that other room there."

He nodded and they crossed over to the second exit. Minho started to count down before he and Archie pushed the metal filing cabinet down onto the ground with a loud crash. It made her jump and look around warily, straining her hearing against the brief silence that followed. Then Minho started to pry the furniture open with a rusted bar of metal.

She and Frypan reached the other side of the room and peered into some kind of storage area. The place was trashed, some of the shelves had fallen over and all sorts of things were strewn around the place, covered with mould. Were those mushrooms?

They took a tentative step inside and hesitated.

"You know," the boy started. "Don't tell this to anyone."

"Have you finally realised that I'm the better Cook?" she snickered to herself.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Girl, you smokin' cow klunk."

"You'll crack soon enough."

"I'll crack ya like an egg," he retorted. "But I do miss the Glade."

She looked at him and there was sorrow in her eyes that matched the one that he was hiding. "Me too, Fry. Me too."

Frypan started when there was a squeak in the farthest corner of the room. A rat darted out of a pile of rotten wood and into a hole in the wall.

"Gross!" the boy exclaimed. "I'm outta here."

He backed away and went to inspect the crates around the conveyor belt. Cassandra looked into the room again and shone her torch into the corners. There were a few plastic boxes stacked on a bottom shelf by the left side and she thought she saw a promising logo on one of them. She slowly stepped further inside, boot crunching against more broken glass as she lifted a leg over a toppled shelf.

She bent down to inspect the boxes, opening the first one and finding a couple thin rolls of dressing. That could be useful, she thought as she pocketed them, and then went on to the next one.

There was a crunch behind her and she whirled her head around to find a figure step out from behind the door. Her heart accelerated instantly as a gaunt face revealed itself from the light of her torch.

"Oh, God!" she cried out just as the emancipated man slammed the door shut. There was a click as the door locked itself shut and she shouted. "Oh, sh-!"

There was a scrape as the man moved his hands and a flicker of orange glowed between his fingers. She gasped and pressed herself against the shelf behind her, feeling her body quake in fear. Minho yelled from the other side of the door and banged on the heavy slab of wood.

"Let it burn," the Crank whispered before giggling at her. Then he set himself on fire.

Cassandra screamed her lungs out as the man flailed and started to run about the room. He tripped and fell down in front of her, rolling on the ground as the flames devoured him. Immediately, the wooden shelves and debris started to catch aflame as well. She stumbled to the other side of the room and made her way back to the door. It had all happened so quickly that she barely had any time to think.

"Cassie! It's locked from the inside!" Minho shouted, panic lacing his voice.

She grasped the handle but it wouldn't budge no matter how hard she tried to turn it. Tears started to prick her eyes and her breathing came out in quick shallow gasps as the fire spread across the rest of the shelves that lined the wall. Thick sulphurous smoke quickly filled the room and she coughed into her sleeve, bringing it up to cover her mouth.

"I-I can't!" she shrieked. "It's stuck!"

"Shuck!" Minho cursed loudly and his boots thudded frantically on the other side. "Frypan! Archie! Find something to ram this shuck thing open!"

"The cabinet!" Archie yelled.

Cassandra choked as the smoke irritated her eyes and the tears streamed freely down her face. She fell to the ground and crawled to a spot next to the door where the wall was bare. The oxygen burned up along with the wooden furniture and debris; she couldn't breathe at all. Each time she opened her mouth to inhale, more fumes entered her system.

"Cassie, stay back!" Minho hollered and there was a loud bang as he shot the hinges of the door. Two more rounds went off and he started shouting again but the roar of flames engulfed her.

She tucked herself tightly into a ball, covering her head with her arms and burying her face in her knees. It felt like her insides were on fire as well; maybe she was already burning alive and she hadn't realised it yet. There was a deafening crash as the boys outside tried to ram the door open.

Scorching heat surrounded her on all sides as the flames started to lick at her feet, blistering her skin and curling the ends of her hair. Cassandra whimpered and tried to make herself smaller as she clung onto consciousness. Minho and the others continued to pound on the door but she was slipping away, asphyxiating on the haze of smoke. She wasn't sure whether she was crying from irritants or fear now. The burnt corpse of the Crank laid a few feet in front of her and she averted her eyes, not being able to stand the thought that she might end up like that too.

The door finally gave way, bursting in a spray of splinters and landing heavily on the ground. She felt hands grabbing her a moment later, pulling her away from the inferno. Something caught and cut deeply against her leg.

"Cassie!" she heard Minho's voice calling her hysterically. "Cassie, hang in there!"

That was the last thing she knew before she lost herself completely.


	24. POLYEIDOS

**ACT II SCENE XXIV  
POLYEIDOS**

* * *

 _ **SHE OPENED HER EYES** to the bright golden glow of dawn and yawned widely as she stretched her limbs. The girl burrowed deeply into her covers against the chill coming from the open window. There was a groan from her right and she turned onto her other side as the boy on the opposite bed blinked blearily back at her._

 _"Morning, Minho," she grinned at him, clutching the blanket in a cocoon around herself. "It's freaking freezing."_

 _"I told you it was a bad idea to leave the window open," he replied, voice thick with sleep._

 _"But it felt so good last night," she pouted._

 _"Not as great in the morning though," he shivered and wrapped his blanket around himself as well. "What time is it?"_

 _"Almost time for the-"_

 _An alarm blared loudly from the speaker in the left corner of the room, making them wince in unison. It lasted for a short three seconds before a musical tone rang through._

 _"It is now six in the morning," a smooth female voice spoke through the light static._

 _"I hate that," Minho said through gritted teeth with a pillow over his head "So much."_

 _Cassandra slowly sat up from the bed and her bare feet touched the cold tiled floor. It sent a fresh wave of shivers rocking through her body and goosebumps erupted all over her skin. She held the blanket tightly around her shoulders as she quickly went over to the window and shut it close._

 _"Thank the Gods above," Minho said with another groan._

 _She shivered from the lingering frost and went to use the bathroom ahead of him. It was cold in there too so she let the hot water run as she brushed her teeth. The steam fogged up the mirror before she undressed and stepped into the shower._

 _An hour later, they were both ready for breakfast and exited the room towards the cafeteria. It had only been a year since they had been picked up by WICKED but they had grown used to the routine. At first they protested vehemently when they gave them new names; but when they met the other children, it didn't seem to matter anymore._

 _"Cass! Minho!" a thin brown haired boy waved them over from a table._

 _"I heard they were going to do a special briefing this afternoon," Gally told them when they sat down. "Maybe they'll finally tell us what they've been doing in the other facility."_

 _The blonde girl beside him looked up at them with an excited glint in her eyes. "They've been preparing us for this moment. I can't wait to find out!"_

 _Cassandra and Minho exchanged glances with each other as more of their group joined their table. They all had similar reactions to the news that was now spreading across the hall like wildfire._

 _"I'm with Sonya," Teresa smiled brightly. "I wonder if they'll bring us into Block E."_

 _"Don't get ahead of yourself," Thomas told her. "That's specially reserved for the tech team."_

 _"But what about our classes?" Newt asked. "We haven't finished magnetohydrodynamics. I finished reading the chapter on the Navier-Stokes equations."_

 _"God, Newt, is geophysics that important to you?" Thomas raised an eyebrow at him._

 _"Hey, it's more than just magnetic field flips!"_

 _Minho rested his face on a hand boredly as his eyes bounced back and forth between the two boys. He had always been more interested in statistical models and differential equations than quantum physics._

 _"Dude, whatever," he finally snapped. "Who cares about class anyway? They're gonna tell us what they're gonna do in that stupid block."_

 _"It's not stupid, Minho, God!" Gally chastised, eyebrows knotting together._

 _"He just means that none of that might matter anymore with what they could potentially have in store for us," Cassandra tried to disperse the tension. "I think we can all say that we're eager to find out what it is."_

 _"Not me."_

 _All eyes turned to look at the shaggy haired boy sitting on her left. Nick adjusted his glasses on his nose bridge before glancing back at them. She hadn't even realised that he had sat down next to her; he had always been light footed._

 _"Nick, don't be an idiot," Teresa said in irritation. "Of course you do."_

 _"You don't think that whatever it is, it might not actually be a good thing for us?" he asked back._

 _"They're trying to save the world," she pointed out. "It's worth whatever the risks. You should know."_

 _Teresa had always been the avant-garde of their group, always pushing the boundaries of things even in their experiments and projects. Even to this very day, she was still the very same girl that she had met in that facility._

 _Wait… why was she suddenly thinking in past tense?_

 _Cassandra looked about the room, taking in the pristine conditions and how everything was in the colour white. It started to blind her, like pinpricks of flame pressing against her eyes. She could smell smoke and her tongue tasted ash._

 _How did she get here?_

 _Where was she?_

 _Her head started to hurt, hot sharp blades digging into her brain, and she started to scream in pain. No one seemed to hear her, not even Minho._

 _Her voice tore through the air with burning agony._

* * *

She could feel people surrounding her on all sides, hands grabbing hold of her limbs. Someone clutched her leg and pain exploded from her thigh. Cassandra heard herself cry out frantically and the pressure on her leg eased away.

Her entire body felt so weak and her throat was parched. It reminded her of the time she came out of the Box in the Glade and almost choked on the air itself. Oxygen, she suddenly thought, her lungs could finally function properly again.

"Something fell out of her pocket."

"It's bandages, quick! Wrap her up!"

"There's too much blood!"

"Her femoral artery is torn, we need to make a tourniquet!"

The pain came back worse than before and she screamed shrilly into the cool night air. A pair of hands grasped her face between them and warm lips crashed against her own. She whimpered against them, lost between the memory of pleasure and the reality of intense anguish.

Her brain decided that it was best to shut down just then and she retreated back to unconsciousness.

* * *

 _"Today your lives are about to change," the man announced in front of them. They were all gathered in the main hall and Chancellor Anderson had personally come down to brief them. The young teenagers were clearly all eager to hear what he had to say and gave him their fullest attention._

 _"We will be initiating you into groups and testing your capacities in various different areas," he went on. "WICKED is pleased to inform you that the Trials are currently underway."_

 _Whispers broke out heatedly around the room at the news. They had all heard about it; that the organisation had been trying to gather resources from the governments that were still left in the world to help develop a cure._

 _"Our brilliant team of pioneers and researchers have been hard at work to figure out a plan to tackle the problem that our world now faces. The Flare… we believe that we will be able to gather the necessary data to create a blueprint of the virus' pathway in the Killzone through the use of specially controlled variables."_

 _He paused and looked around the room._

 _"But in order to do this, we will need your help. You are the generation that will save us all, a generation full of the brightest minds that history has ever known."_

 _She looked to Minho and saw that he was hanging on to every word that was coming out of the Chancellor's mouth. There were so many questions brimming in her mind and she desperately wanted to ask them all._

 _"We will need your cooperation in the days to come."_

 _Cassandra watched as he walked towards the large glass window behind him. They were all familiar with the swirling snowcaps in the distance and the facility stretching out on the right side. He turned back around to face them again, a controller clutched in hand._

 _"And remember: WICKED is good."_

 _Then the glass pane flickered, reflections of grey particles rippling impossibly along its surface before a myriad of colours bloomed across the screen. It showed them the outside world, scorched into a desolated wasteland, the microscopic zoom of the virus strain, the computer generated image of the Maze._

 _They took it all in with awed reverence._

 _Everyone except Nick. He stood up from his seat and there was cold hatred in his eyes._

 _"No," he spat out and shook his head. "This won't save us."_

* * *

 _Dr Clark brought her down the winding corridors of Block E and ushered her into a circular room that was surrounded by glass. It was completely empty except for a single table in the middle with an unfamiliar boy sitting on the right side. He looked up at their entrance and there was uncertainty in his green eyes._

 _"Here you are," she said in that sickly sweet tone of hers. Cassandra swore it sounded even more condescending every time she opened her mouth. "Now you can get better acquainted with each other."_

 _The blonde woman then exited the room and the door slid shut behind her with a soft swoosh. Cassandra cocked her head to the side as she looked back at the boy, taking in his frail looking body and mess of dark hair. He looked up at her with tired eyes and smiled shyly._

 _She crossed the room and took the only seat that was opposite him. They sat in an awkward silence as she looked around the room once more._

 _"I'm Cassandra," she finally spoke to him._

 _"They call me Helenus," he said in a soft voice. "But the kids call me Lenny."_

 _"What do they expect us to do?" she asked, her eyes shifting from side to side suspiciously._

 _"I don't know," he shook his head. "They told me we were special. We're not like the others."_

 _"They say that to everyone," Cassandra frowned but she knew better than that._

 _The boy shrugged. "I've only seen you a couple of times before. I guess we don't have the same schedules or group of friends."_

 _"Yeah…" she replied hesitantly. "Who do you usually hang around with?"_

 _"Alby, Clint, Rachel, Aris," he started to list. They were names that she wasn't familiar with although she could vaguely recall a face for each of them._

 _Cassandra didn't know what was happening. Ever since they started separating them into groups, she had seen less and less of her friends. The only one she saw without fail was Minho because they shared the same bedroom, but Dr Clark had said that things would be changing soon._

 _She stood up from her chair and walked over to the glass wall. It showed her reflection like a mirror and she cocked her head at it. The girl took a step closer and knocked on the wall. The room reverberated and echoed with the sound of the thumps she made against its surface._

 _"Let us out of here!" she shouted, then banged her fists against it. "Let us out!"_

* * *

A deafening noise woke her up and she opened her eyes to the blazing bright sunlight that had been beating down on them for the past few days. She felt awful, as if her body had been sucked through a turbine and spat back out. Minho had been holding her close to him but he started to get up when the loud rumble of jet engines drew closer.

"Berg!" she heard Jorge yell somewhere in the distance. "It's a Berg!"

"It's heading our way!" Minho pointed.

Then a sudden gust of wind billowed around them, throwing clouds of dust into their eyes. She squinted against the particles, wishing she could bring her arms up to her face but they wouldn't obey her.

"What the shuck is that?!" Newt shouted.

Brenda suddenly rushed over in her direction but she passed Cassandra and bent down next to her. She realised that she was lying next to Thomas on the ground.

"I'm sorry," the other girl was saying to him. "I didn't mean to- I mean, I know that you…"

Cassandra could clearly see the Berg land about five hundred meters away from them, a large aerial vehicle that had thrusters and rotor blades on both sides. The hatch door opened slowly and two figures in dark green hazmat suits emerged from the depths of the machine.

They crossed the distance towards them and Jorge had to hold Minho back as they approached her. Brenda was pushed away to make room for the strangers to examine the two teenagers that lay against the stone wall. The one on the right held a plastic box in hand and he opened it to bring out a syringe.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER! GET OFF ME!" Minho screamed wildly as he struggled against Jorge's restraint. "CASSIE!"

The needle pierced the skin of her neck and she felt the rush of warmth instantly wash over her. Her eyelids started to droop close, but just before she caught sight of another needle with a long thin thread attached to it.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE :**

More Greek myth hints: Helenus is the twin brother of Cassandra of Troy.

Thank you so much for reading this story and please leave a review! xx


	25. ERECTHEUS

**ACT II SCENE XXV  
ERECTHEUS**

* * *

 **IT WAS LIKE SHE** was standing on the edge of a precipice, lost in the dark depths of her subconscious. There was nothing, just a solid abyss that threatened to crumble all around her- a vacuum of endless space. The only thing she could do was to wait for a glimmer of escape as she clutched her knees to her chest with her head buried between them.

Then a voice that she hadn't heard in a long while called to her.

" _Cass?_ "

" _Teresa?_ " she looked up but saw only her corporeal body in the sea of ink.

" _Are you okay?_ " the girl asked in concern. " _I saw a berg land._ "

" _Unless you're dead too and this is the afterlife, I think I'm okay,_ " she replied wryly.

" _Is Tom okay?_ "

" _I think so._ "

A brief silence followed her answer, and Teresa's voice sounded anxious.

" _You need to know_ ," she said. " _That I'm not a betrayer. They took me away, forced me to do this._ "

" _Teresa, are you okay?_ "

" _Please_ ," she pleaded. " _No matter what happens next, please, trust me._ "

She felt her heart race at the ominous words that came to her across time and space. Cassandra called the girl's name but it was too late, the connection had already been severed. There was a roar of sound, like waves crashing in a thunderstorm and she felt intense warmth wash over her body.

She could see the searing white light of the Scorch through the thin skin of her eyelids; penetrating the membrane of her cornea and making her nerve endings tingle. Hushed voices conversed around her, but she couldn't make anything out.

Her memory was foggy; she could remember fire. Something about finding medical supplies and people in white showing her images on a screen.

No, that couldn't be right.

Cassandra tried to think through the drugs that were still coursing through her veins but it was difficult. Someone shifted beside her and a hand squeezed her own tightly. It had to be Minho, she was sure of it.

She tried to pry her eyelids open, felt them crusted with gunk and reached up weakly to wipe them away. Had she been crying? Her eyes felt swollen as well. She dragged her hand across her face before finally opening her eyes wide to the rays of the blinding mid afternoon sun.

"Cassie," Minho whispered in her ear before pulling her into a crushing hug. "I told you, I shucking told you."

"Sorry," she mumbled even though she had no idea what he was talking about.

"I'm just glad you're okay," he said, pulling back to look at her properly. "You're okay, right? They stitched your leg up and gave you a blood transfusion."

"Oh…" she looked around at the other faces that stared back at her, all wearing expressions of relief. "Yeah, no, I have no shucking clue what happened. Again. I hate this."

" _You're like a cockroach_. _How are you still alive?! I'm going to get you, I'll get you myself!_ "

"Ugh!" Cassandra pressed her palms against her ears and squeezed her eyes shut.

"What's wrong?" Minho asked her, frowning worriedly as he held her close.

"That voice!" she exclaimed angrily. "That shuck voice won't stop! Get it out of my head!"

Questions suddenly erupted around her in a discord of noise that only served to make her head hurt and she winced.

"What voice?"

"Are you sure she's okay?"

"Is she like hallucinating?"

"I think she lost way too much blood."

"Is someone else talking in your head?"

"Everyone slim it!" Newt snapped at them before turning to her. He took her hand away from her ear and she hesitantly peered up at him. "Cass, calm down."

Her body had started to quiver and Minho drew her away from the others protectively. "Thank you," he said gratefully to Newt.

"You shanks give her more space," the blonde barked. "Can't you see she just went through a bloody trauma?"

The group behind him took a couple of steps back obediently and Newt crouched down in front of her. He let go of her hand and rested his arm on a knee.

"What do you remember?" he asked gently.

"We rescued Thomas…" she frowned. "I… I don't really know what happened after that, it feels like my memories and dreams… I- I can't tell them apart anymore."

She grasped her head between her hands again and looked towards the stone ground as she exhaled shallow breaths. Minho caressed her, running his hand along her hair comfortingly.

"It's okay," he said softly. "Just tell us what you know."

She told them about the people in white, but she knew it couldn't have been real. They were a lot younger than they were now, then she remembered fragments of fire and searching through debris. Nick… he had been there too. It was confusing, all the images in her mind blended together in a swirl of chaos and she couldn't separate them into order.

"What is happening to me?" she groaned, raking her nails across her scalp.

"Cassie, you're fine," Minho gripped her shoulder. "Cassie, look at me."

She opened her eyes and turned towards him, face crumpled with fear. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her arm.

"You're okay," he whispered. "I got you."

"There was fire…" Newt said before telling her exactly what happened. She had passed out a lot after the storage room in the factory went up in flames. Her leg had gotten a deep gash from a splinter when they dragged her out of the fire after busting down the door. She lost a lot of blood because a main artery had been torn and WICKED thought that she needed help or else she'd die.

They had taken Thomas with them because his infection had gotten really bad and he needed a proper surgery.

"We don't know if he's coming back," Newt said, clenching his teeth.

"They'll bring him back," Jorge told them. "He hasn't gone through the Trials yet."

"How are you so certain?" Minho scowled distastefully.

"I may not know exactly what's going on, hermano," the man said. "But I ain't dumb. They told me to protect him at all costs until he reaches the Safe Haven. Well, we aren't there yet."

"So what do we do now?" Frypan asked. "Do we wait for him here?"

"No way, dude," Minho squinted up at the sky. "We can't waste our supplies sitting here. If they're gonna bring Thomas back, they'll track us down to do that. As soon as Cassie's good enough to go, we're moving on."

"Are you okay with that, Cass?" Newt turned back to her.

She nodded her head. "Sounds good to me."

"Then it's decided," Minho said resolutely. "Cassie, you need to eat something."

He stood up to retrieve their pack and she looked down at herself. She had a fresh set of clothes on so she couldn't see the extent of damage that had happened to her. For the love of all things holy, she really hoped that Brenda had been the one who changed her.

"I had to clean all the blood off you," Minho told her when he saw her inspecting herself.

Sweet lord.

"They gave you some meds," he went on, rummaging through the bag and bringing out a few edible items along with a couple foils of pills.

He opened a tin can of beans and corned beef for her, which she hungrily scarfed down. She took a long drink of water after that, her entire body feeling as dehydrated as the barren desert. After that, she attempted to stand by gripping Minho's arm and pulling herself to her feet. The movement sent black spots dancing across her vision for a moment and she had to close her eyes for a minute.

She could feel the column of stitches on the inside of her right thigh and she found it mildly distracting. Minho looked up at unkindly sun with a distasteful scowl on his face. He seemed to be debating with himself internally while she shifted her leg, trying to get used to how her skin stretched at certain angles. She really did not want that to accidentally open up.

"Okay," Minho came to a decision. "Since we lost all our sheets and we can't go out there without our skins melting off, let's head out once the sun sets in a couple of hours. Everyone, get some shuteye. We're gonna have a long night."

Surprisingly, nobody groaned or complained about it. The Gladers merely nodded their heads and started to look for shady spots to buckle down in. Cassandra turned to Minho and he led her towards a little nook by the side of the outcrop. Newt, Frypan and Archie joined them as they settled around the semi-enclosed space. Aris had taken a bunk in a crack on the wall that was about three feet above the ground.

"I know you've been sleeping for more than twelve hours," Minho turned to her. "But try and get a couple more if you can."

She smiled weakly as she wrapped her arms around his sinewy bicep and leaned her head against his shoulder. He rubbed her head with a hand and she closed her eyes, feeling as if she actually would nod off again.

" _Who was in your head?_ "

" _I don't know._ "

" _Was it a girl?_ "

" _Yeah._ "

" _Was it-_ "

She didn't hear the next thing Aris said because she slipped unconscious just then.


	26. THYESTES

**ACT II SCENE XXVI  
THYESTES**

* * *

 _ **"YOUR TURN."**_

 _"Diamond."_

 _She reached across the table and picked the top card from the left deck. Her hand flicked it over to reveal a red triangle._

 _"Circle."_

 _The boy reached over to the right deck and flipped the card onto its back. A black circle stood imprinted on the white background and he glanced up at her. She ignored his gaze and reached for another card._

 _"Square."_

 _She looked down and there was a red diamond in the center of the card. Sighing, the girl placed the card down and he paused for a moment. This was going nowhere; neither of them knew what it was meant to prove._

 _"You're good," he said quietly._

 _"Just lucky," she muttered in reply, looking away to the glass walls. She imagined she saw a flicker from beyond the reflective surface of the two-way mirror but she knew they were somewhere there on the other side- watching them._

 _Her eyes returned to the table as Helenus pulled another card from his deck. He looked down at it and then back to her. Cassandra made a disgusted sound and leaned back against her chair._

 _"This is stupid," she declared._

 _"They said-"_

 _"Shove it," she said harshly. "I'm not doing this anymore, they can't make me."_

 _Helenus placed the card down onto the tabletop, facing upwards. It was a triangle, just as she thought it would be. It made her even angrier and she turned away from him. The boy looked at her with his piercing green gaze and it reminded her of someone else that she knew._

 _"Where did you come from?" she asked him and he blinked in surprise._

 _"New York," he told her. "I was separated from my family, got picked up by this old man. His name was Alec, used to be a soldier. But when the berg came to our settlement…"_

 _His eyes held sadness in them as he looked down to the tabletop. He picked up a card and thumbed over the edges idly. She watched him silently; saw the dull flicker of emptiness in those green irises that were the colour of spring bloom. Helenus looked up at her with a waning smile, as if telling her that it was okay._

 _"I hid with a couple of others in the forest but we had to move when the city became overrun. Eventually the PFC realised its mistake and WICKED started picking kids up."_

 _"How did you survive out there?" she asked._

 _"People protected me," he said and he looked almost ashamed for admitting it out loud. She used to hate people like him, the ones who only knew how to whimper and cower in a corner. Now, she knew better. The world needed people like him and less of people like her._

 _"I killed," she said quietly. "Every Crank I came across, I killed. That was how I grew up."_

 _He turned his sympathetic gaze towards her and that was the moment she realised who he was._

 _"I'm sorry."_

* * *

 _Hoots and screams of laughter echoed up from the bottom of the valley as they climbed up the steep slope. She turned around to find the two boys right behind her before focusing her grip on the rocky terrain. Her arms trembled as she hauled herself over the edge and found horizontal footing, then pulled the others up along with her._

 _They laid down on the grass, inhaling the frigid high altitude air to fill their straining lungs with oxygen. "Little girl! Little boys! Come out, come out wherever you are!" the Cranks cackled below them as they caught up._

 _"We need to move."_

 _She looked to her side and nodded, pushing herself to a stand. They ran and stumbled through the forest, tripping a few times over the uneven ground. Eventually, they broke the edge of the line of pine wood trees and came to the end of the plane._

 _A wide basin stretched out in front of them over the precipice of the cliff face. The valley seemed untouched by the horrors that surrounded it outside the natural stone walls, with a silver glimmering thread winding through its middle. She stared out at the sight before them and fell to her knees as she gasped for breath again._

 _The two boys fell to the ground next to her and panted for their lives. Above them, the sky stretched out in a pale blue expanse with trails of clouds gliding idly with the wind. Puffs of warm steam escaped their lips like a thin mist._

 _"I recognise this place. Soyun, don't you remember? That used to be the lake you pushed me into."_

 _She looked at him and laughed weakly. How many miles had they ran to reach this place? It's been so long, she hardly remembered much of the past few years they'd been on the road._

 _The shaggy haired boy crawled towards the edge and sat down, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. He opened them and cupped his hands over his mouth, screaming into the distance. His voice echoed throughout the valley and bounced against every stony facade._

 _"Idiot."_

 _She grinned and stood up to join him, screaming her heart out at the earth below them and the heavens above. Laughter bubbled forth as she momentarily felt alive again, standing on the edge of a broken world with the wind caressing her skin._

 _Someone suddenly grabbed hold of her shoulder and shook her roughly._

 _"What are you doing?!"_

 _She turned around to look at the boy in surprise and found forest green eyes staring back at her from under furrowed brows. Her own dark eyes widened in shock and she took a step back, her foot dipping over the peak. Nick's hand shot out to grab hold of her arm and she shook her head in continued disbelief._

 _"You're dead," she whispered. "You died."_

 _"What are you talking about?"_

 _"You died!" she shrieked, trying to shake his grip off of her. "I pulled you out of the hole myself! Why are you haunting me?! Stop it! STOP!"_

 _She felt him pull her back roughly, away from the edge, and her face crashed into his chest. His arms wrapped around her tightly and she felt the tremors coursing through his entire body._

 _"Please don't do this."_

 _"Let go of me!" she sobbed. "Please, just leave me alone!"_

 **"Cassie, look at me!"**

She craned her head upwards and found an unfamiliar face looking down at her with concern. The sky above him was ablaze with a million galaxies and a barren land stretched out beyond them. She pushed away from him and screamed.

"Who are you?!"

He grabbed hold of her again before she could slip over the steep decline of the rocky outcrop.

"It's me," his voice was filled with dismay. "Cassie, it's me, it's Minho."

The boy took her face between his hands and she blinked several times before recognition finally came back to her teary eyes. Cassandra stared at him with an expression filled with terror, looking around to gather her bearings. Night had fallen over the Scorch and several scared faces peered up at her from the ground below. Newt's wide eyes stared at her with unfathomable fear, just like the time they were in the tunnels. Somehow, she had managed to climb to the top of the outcrop.

She grasped her head between her hands and fell to a crouch, breathing hard. Her insides twisted with vice like distress as more tears came streaming down her cheeks. Minho held on to her, his soft tangible breath blowing against her skin as he pressed his face against the side of hers. A shiver shot through her entire being with cold cognizance.

It was in that moment that she realised something; she was losing her mind.


	27. LISYMNIUS

**ACT II SCENE XXVII  
LISYMNIUS**

* * *

 **THEY ALL KNEW BY NOW,** and she did too, that silence was her go-to defence.

She shut herself down, drawing into herself and her own thoughts. Minho tried to comfort her but it was no use. Cassandra turned away from him and walked off across the desert on her own. The mountains loomed higher the longer they walked on under the pale light of the moon. She could make out the distinct shape of craggy peaks and deep grooves along the walls.

The darkness reigned heavily around them as they pushed through the night. Minho wandered close to her again and tried to hold her hand but she didn't even look at him. She couldn't, not when she knew.

It was hurting him, but looking at him made her want to cry in loud anguished sobs. The only thing that kept her going was the promise of a cure at the safe haven, hopefully. WICKED couldn't possibly be lying about that, would they?

She didn't know how or why, but the virus seemed to be affecting her faster than the others. There must just be something wrong with her other than the experiments that WICKED had done on her. Back in the Glade, she had always known that their brains had been altered somehow. Hers more than most, and that was the reason she went into trances.

This was completely different.

From the memory blackouts to her incapability of distinguishing reality and fantasy, she was slipping. The knowledge squeezed her chest with an iron grip and she had to take a shuddering breath to ease the pain. A few tears escaped her eyes and she reached up to wipe them away, smearing red dust across her face.

They crossed a large stretch of sand that billowed about them in the faint breeze, catching in the pockets of their clothes and sticking to the sweat on their skin. She wanted to shower so badly and wash all the grime off her body.

Minho came by to take her hand again and this time, she let him. But not without feeling her trembling heart falling deeper into a dark recess.

* * *

They had to stop to rest a couple of hours before daybreak but she couldn't sleep. Her body probably already had enough rest and she lied wide-awake on the hard ground. The stars shone brilliantly above them in a sea of twinkling gems, like they would crash down on them at any given moment. Minho held her close, afraid that she would take off in the middle of their sleep again.

"I keep seeing him," she whispered. "Nick. I don't know why but his ghost is haunting me."

Surprisingly, she heard him murmur close to her ear. "Do you still feel guilty about how he died?"

Cassandra was quiet for a brief moment. "No... I think he'd still find a way to get himself killed without my help."

"You're right, he would have."

"I think it was him," she frowned. "The boy we found before WICKED picked us up. We knew him."

"I thought we knew everybody," he opened his eyes to look at her. "From the schools, or whatever."

"Not really," she told him about the facility in detail from what she could remember. There were too many of them and they couldn't have possibly known everyone; they'd all been split into groups with different schedules. He listened to her quietly and she could see his eyes droop on more than one occasion.

"I wonder what was my favourite subject," his lips quirked into a small smile. "I can't imagine something as ordinary as studying in a classroom."

"It was Maths," she told him and he scoffed in disbelief. "Mine was Psychology."

"I can't imagine it," he repeated, eyes sliding close again before his body jerked.

"Go to sleep," she leaned in and pecked him on the lips. "You need it more than I do."

"You're more important," he told her and their eyes met.

"Minho..."

He pulled her in for a longer, deeper kiss, and she felt her insides twist with endless sorrow. His fingertips brushed against the side of her face, buried themselves into her dark hair. Would she remember this tomorrow? Next week? How long did she have to be able to hold on to this single moment?

Even if she had memorised every line and contour of his face, listened to his voice a thousand times or engraved each intimate touch to her heart, it would be all for nought.

She was sick.

"Go to sleep," she murmured against his lips, nuzzling close to him. "I'll be here when you wake up."

Minho pressed his lips against hers softly, eyelids drooping heavily, and he was fast asleep in the next second. She chuckled as she listened to his soft breathing, burying her face in his collarbone. Sleep tried to elude her but she thought about Minho and their time in the Glade, the first time he kissed her in the Maze, and eventually she dozed off.

When dawn broke over the thin horizon, it brought the heat along with it and the sunbeams crept across her skin. She guessed they probably had a couple of hours more before the temperature intensified and they'd be forced to continue their trek under the merciless elements. Some of the Gladers stirred, rolled onto their sides and tried to ignore the light bursting forth through their eyelids. Aris sat up a few feet away from her and stared off into the distance as if he could see something no one else could. Cassandra closed her eyes, and hid her face in Minho's jacket.

Someone was rubbing the tip of her nose and she twitched, frowning unhappily. She swatted the hand away and opened her eyes to see Minho grinning back at her. The god-awful sun had climbed higher in the sky and shone down on them with unbearable audacity. She groaned in annoyance, wishing they could reach the shuck mountains soon and be rid of the stupid flaming ball in the sky.

"Here," Minho handed her a packet of jerky. "We need to head out soon."

His face was already covered in a shiny sheen of sweat as he took a bite of his own strip of meat. Cassandra pushed herself off the ground and tore the packet open, nibbling on the salty snack. Of all the sustenance they could have chosen to bring with them into a boundless desert, it had to be saturated in sodium. It must have been Frypan.

She looked around, gathering their bearings and turned in the direction of the mountains. They were definitely closer now but it was still a long way off. Cassandra squinted her eyes into the distance and saw a small black speck against the backdrop of orange dust.

"Something's there," she said. "On the way to the mountains."

Minho raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun and narrowed his eyes. He slowly started to shake his head. "I can't make it out."

"Maybe it's shelter."

They looked up at Newt's approach and he sat down next to them with a bag of nuts. He tried to make out the shape as well but gave up after two seconds.

"One can only hope," Minho sighed. "I'll take my pants off and eat 'em if it's actually a shuck roof."

"I'd like to see that," Cassandra giggled.

"I thought you would."

"What'd ya think is waitin' for us behind those buggin' hills?" the blonde asked.

"Someone to punch I hope."

"He said it, not me," Cassandra pointed at Minho.

Newt merely rolled his eyes. "Do you believe they really got the cure? That we'll actually be safe?"

"No," she replied. "We can't trust people who call themselves a negative adjective."

Minho looked at her and she could see the uneasy concern in his eyes. "For the sake of my sanity, I really hope so."

"That's not bloody funny," Newt commented.

"I wasn't being funny," he said with a serious tone and stood up. He surveyed the group briefly before clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "Okay, everyone. Let's head out."

Cassandra glanced at Newt and tried to give him a reassuring smile but she didn't feel it herself. Minho bent down to grab the bag of supplies and slung it around his shoulders before taking her hand.

"We can't possibly trek under the sun without any buggin' cover though," Newt said.

"We don't have a choice," Minho responded. "We still got spare clothes and our jackets, we'll just have to make do."

"Let's not waste any time standing around here," she said anxiously.

He nodded and called for the others to hurry up, then started walking off with her in tow. Newt followed beside them and Cassandra tried not to whine at their conditions. The sweat running down her entire body made the stitch in her leg itch something awful. Her hate for the sun could rival its own fiery depths.

It had probably been three hours since they started from their last point and the black speck in the distance grew larger on the horizon. She was convinced that it looked like a building of some kind, maybe they would actually find shelter and it made her want to walk a tiny bit faster to reach it. Minho stopped them for a break another hour later before continuing again.

Everyone walked in relatable silence, trying to conserve their energy and water as much as possible. But it was dull and boring.

Another couple of hours later, they had crossed a good amount of distance towards the mountains. They might actually make it to the mountains in a couple more days but how much farther was the Safe Haven? Did they really have enough time to reach it?

Archie started shouting hoarsely behind them and they turned to look at him questioningly.

"A shack!" he pointed. "It's a shuckin' shack!"

Cassandra turned back around and squinted her eyes against the heat waves dissipating into the air. It was an old wooden hut that looked like it was built out of large matchsticks. Maybe it had belonged to a farmer in another time, or maybe it used to be surrounded by woodland. Whatever it was, it was their sanctuary.

A collective sigh of relief went around the group when Minho told them to hurry up again. Half an hour later, they reached the shack and Cassandra slowly pushed the door open, as if afraid it would disintegrate into dust at the barest touch. It was empty and there was plenty of room for all thirteen of them to lie around.

Minho turned around to the others with a smirk.

"Welcome to my humble abode," he said before stepping inside.


	28. PROTESILAUS

**ACT II SCENE XXVIII  
PROTESILAUS**

* * *

 **CASSANDRA PLOPPED HERSELF DOWN** on the dried floorboards and watched as the boys filtered in, talking freely now that they were able to rest properly. She noted Jorge and Brenda sitting on the farthest side away from them and she had to remind herself that they were part of WICKED.

It seemed that with everything that was going on with her, them being apart of WICKED didn't seem that important to her as she thought it would be.

Minho settled himself next to her and handed her a canteen of water. She took a big gulp before passing it back to him. Newt got out his bag of nuts again and started munching on them with Frypan. Exhaustion had kind of taken away her appetite.

"Just in time for midday too," Newt said. "I'd hate to be out there with the sun beating down on us like dogs."

"Yeah, lucky," Minho shook his head. He looked like he wished he could soldier on but that would be a terrible idea.

"I wonder what's happenin' to Thomas," Frypan said suddenly. "He's with WICKED, isn't he? What are they doing to him?"

"Prodding him with needles, I guess, what else?" Cassandra let out a breath that was almost like a scoff.

"Maybe he'll come back with some info."

"Maybe," she stretched her arms high in the air and heard her shoulder pop. "He's probably better off than us anyway. Maybe he has a comfy bed, maybe Rat Man brought him some eggs and bacon."

The boys all groaned collectively at the mention of bacon.

"Thanks, Cassie. That's all I'm gonna dream about later," Minho sighed.

"I'm hurt, I thought you only dreamt about me," she raised an eyebrow at him.

He grinned at her playfully. "Sorry, but bacon is my true soulmate."

"I could use some bacon right now," Archie leaned against a wall and rubbed his stomach. "Or some of Fry's nasty casserole. Man, that used to hit the spot."

"If my casserole's so nasty, you wouldn't have asked for extra servings every time!" Frypan threw a nut in his direction and the blonde Runner caught it with his mouth.

"Nice catch," Ed snickered next to him.

"Remember that one time they sent up a turkey?" Cassandra asked. "Man, that was good stuff."

"They sent one up twice every year," Newt smiled at the memory. "No idea why's that though. Winston always had the hardest time catching it."

"It made the stupidest sounds," Minho said, imitating the bird's frantic cries and they snorted in amusement.

The reminder that Winston was no longer with them made her feel somewhat melancholic. There had been so many great people she made friends with that she wouldn't be able to talk to again. She looked up and forced herself to grin widely.

"Until I stabbed it with a knife," she said proudly.

"Always said you should've been a Slicer," Newt muttered under his breath and shoved another handful of nuts into his mouth.

She smiled and turned when she heard Jorge's voice from the corner.

"You kids should rest up," he told them. "Won't be long now till we reach the mountains."

Something about the way he said it made her frown, like he was expecting something to happen. The Gladers exchanged morose looks with each other. She saw Aris staring off into space again as he sat in another corner of the hut. Minho nodded his head then and told them to get some more sleep. They'll make it all the way to the mountains when the sun sets.

* * *

Cassandra turned onto her side and opened her eyes. It was hot and stifling, cramped up in the shack with bodies all around her. They had shelter but the heat that oppressed them wasn't something they could escape from. And her thigh itched badly.

There was something, a badly sewn seam perhaps, that kept digging into her outer thigh as well. It was unbearably uncomfortable. She sat up and patted around the side of her pants, feeling a small bulge in a pocket. Reaching inside, she found that there was another pocket hidden in it, and her fingers touched smooth metal.

She pulled out the long capsule and raised an eyebrow. The shuck is this? Turning it around in her hands, she paused and touched the small letters that were embossed on its side.

 **PROPHESI.**

Her eyebrows pulled together as she stared at it. What the hell was she supposed to do with this?

Cassandra started when she heard a familiar sound coming from outside the shack. It was the whirring of metal blades and hum of heavy machinery. A berg.

She shoved the capsule back into her pocket and stood up, rushing to pull the door open. The invasion of bright white light made her wince and a couple of boys behind her stirred. Minho started and peered up at her blearily.

"What's happening?" he asked hoarsely.

"It's Thomas," she said with wide eyes. "It's Thomas, they're bringing him back!"

The berg flew closer towards them and Minho had been right, they would deliver Thomas back to them wherever they were. A long line attached to a small bundle started to lower and dangle in the air. The litter swung precariously above the ground and she stepped outside into the blazing sun.

Minho went out right after her, then the others followed suit. They stood around as the berg hovered above them now and carefully lowered Thomas to the ground. He was strapped to the litter and looked like he was only just waking up. They swarmed around him when he finally touched the cracked earth.

"Welcome back, shank," she said with a small smirk as the others started giving him their own greetings.

"What was that all about?"

"Are you okay?"

"What'd they do to you?"

"Have fun in the Berg?"

"How's your shoulder?"

Thomas ignored them with a semi-dazed look of bewilderment on his face. He tried to get up but the ropes bound him tightly to the canvas litter. The boy's eyes looked around until he found Minho, then flicked to Cassandra who was right beside him.

"A little help here?" he asked.

They took a step closer and started to cut the ropes with their knives, pulling them off one by one. She had hoped that there might be a couple of supplies in the litter with him but that was it. Just Thomas.

He stood up and started to stretch, continuing to ignore the melee of questions that were thrown at him from every direction. He examined himself, having received fresh clothes as well, then tested his shoulder by rotating it slightly. Then he turned back to Minho and her.

"What are you guys doing out in the open? Your skin is gonna bake!" he said.

Minho pointed at the shack. "We better get back under that thing."

Thomas nodded and started towards it and they followed. "Okay, look, I'll answer everything when we're settled inside."

"But what happened?" Newt asked excitedly. "What did they do to you?"

"I'll tell you when we get inside," the boy sighed.

Minho pushed the door to the shack open and they filtered inside again, feeling the rushing relief of shade. Cassandra immediately went back to her spot on the floor and sat down. When everyone settled around, Minho went to sit next to her. Brenda was on his other side and she hadn't spoken a word for ages.

"All right," Minho pointed to a spot in front of Thomas. "You sit there, get yourself all nice and comfy and start talking.

"How's the shoulder, bad boy?" she grinned crookedly at him.

"Feels good," he replied, rubbing it gently with a hand. "Doesn't hurt anymore."

"Good that. Thought for a second there, I might have killed ya. I've never cauterised a wound before."

"You said you did!" Newt exclaimed in disbelief. "You were so bloody confident!"

She merely laughed.

"Me neither, actually," Jorge confessed.

"Thanks, Cass, so glad to see you still care for me that much," Thomas rolled his eyes.

"And we're all shucking delighted to see you alive," Minho interjected. "Now tell us about your adventures with the aliens in their big bad spaceship."

"You sure about this?" Thomas looked at him worriedly. "How many days left to get over those mountains, to the safe haven?"

"Five days, dude," Minho replied. "But you know we can't go tramping around in this sun with nothing to protect us. You're gonna talk, then we're gonna go back to sleep, then we're all gonna bust our humps walking all night. Get on it."

"Good that," Thomas nodded. "Save all your questions till the end, children." He paused but nobody reacted so he coughed into his fist. "I kept passing out, but WICKED took me to some doctors who totally fixed me up. I heard them saying about how it wasn't supposed to happen, how the gun had been a factor they hadn't expected. The bullet set off a nasty infection in me, and I guess they felt pretty strongly that it wasn't time for me to die."

"Not a factor that they expected?" Cassandra repeated. "Shuck, if you hadn't gotten shot maybe they would have left me for dead."

"If he hadn't gotten shot, you wouldn't have been almost burned alive," Minho pointed.

"Oh, yeah."

"You almost died?" Thomas looked at her.

"Yeah, we tried to find some medical supplies in this factory," she told him. "But a Crank trapped me in a room with him and shucking set himself on fire."

She knew her nonchalance was just a good act and Thomas frowned, sensing that there was something else that she wasn't telling him. Unexpectedly though, Brenda cut her to the chase.

"She tore her femoral artery and WICKED fixed her up too," she said. "And she had an episode after that."

"Episode?" he questioned. "Like in the Glade? A trance? Did you say something?"

"Hey, you're the schoolteacher, not me," she gestured. "Don't you have anymore juicy gossip to share with us?"

His frown deepened but he quickly told them about the conversation he had overhead- killzone patterns, Candidates, more Variables. It didn't help to shed much light on their situation though.

"Well, that really cleared things up," Minho said. "Must have something to do with all those signs about you in the city."

"Glad to know you're really happy to see me alive."

"Hey, if you wanna be the leader, no skin off my back. I am happy to see you alive though."

"No thanks. You keep it."

"Thank the Gods!" Cassandra exclaimed.

Newt stood up and rubbed his chin with a small scowl. "So we're all potential candidates for something. And maybe the purpose of all the buggin' klunk we've been through is to weed out those who don't qualify. But for some reason the whole gun-and-rusty-bullet thing wasn't part of the… normal tests. Or Variables, whatever. If Thomas is gonna croak and die, it wasn't supposed to come from a bloody infection."

Thomas nodded his head in agreement at the summary.

"What this means is that they're watching us," Minho said. "Just like they did in the Maze. Has anyone seen a beetle blade running around anywhere?"

They shook their heads. Something like a beetle blade would have been too obvious to spot out in the open here.

"What the hell's a beetle blade?" Jorge asked.

"Little mechanical centipede things that spied on us with cameras in the Maze," answered Thomas.

"Of course. I'm sorry I asked," the man rolled his eyes.

"The Maze was definitely some kind of indoor facility," Aris spoke up. "But there's just no way we're inside something anymore. Though they could be using satellites or long-range cameras, I guess."

Jorge cleared his throat. "What is it about Thomas that makes him so special? Those signs in the city about him being the real leader, them swooping in here and saving his butt when he got all sicky-sicky. I'm not trying to be mean, muchacho- I'm just curious. What makes you better than the rest of your buddies?"

"You're from WICKED, you tell us," Minho grunted.

"I'm not special," Thomas frowned in consternation. "They would've saved anybody who'd gotten shot. It wasn't about me- it was the bullet that messed things up."

"Yeah, well, I'm staying close to you from here on."

The Gladers continued to converse but Minho told them to get some sleep. It was already two in the afternoon and they'd only have a few hours of rest until they had to bust their asses again.

Cassandra lied down next to Minho and tried to sleep but the capsule seemed to weigh heavily in her pocket. Then Thomas was in her head and she almost missed being able to communicate telepathically.

" _What happened?_ "

She hesitated for a brief second. It still hurt to even think about it. " _I'm losing my mind, Thomas. Whatever WICKED did to me, it's affecting me faster than everyone else._ "

" _The Flare?_ " there was panic in his voice.

" _Yeah. I keep getting blackouts and losing massive chunks of my memories. I can't tell reality apart from my dreams anymore either. For a moment, I couldn't even recognise Minho._ "

He didn't reply for a while, probably trying to take in what she had just told him.

" _Cass… I-I'm sorry._ "

Her face felt incredibly hot and she realised that she was flushed from holding in her sobs. She swallowed thickly and closed her eyes.

" _They'll give us a cure, they have to. We'll make it to the safe haven._ "

She sniffled and she imagined her voice wavered. " _Okay._ "

" _We'll get through this._ "

The tears started to leak out, streaming down her face and she turned towards the wall.

" _Okay._ "


	29. OENOMAUS

**ACT II SCENE XXIX  
OENOMAUS**

* * *

 **MINHO ROUSED HER WHEN** evening fell on them and it took her a while to compose herself. Her head was all levels of groggy, eyelids drooping heavily every two seconds. Cassandra rubbed her face and took a deep breath as she forced her tired brain to refocus. The Gladers were talking quietly amongst themselves as they ate and the shack was buzzing with their voices. It made her want to go back to sleep even more.

She pinched herself but that didn't work, so she reached out and poked Minho in the ribs instead. He flinched and turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Good morning, sunshine," he said sarcastically.

"You're the worst," she replied with a deadpan expression.

"I know," he sighed in mock sadness. "It keeps me up at night."

Cassandra snorted in disbelief before he pulled her closer. He handed her some water and cream biscuits. She took a large gulp from the canteen but nibbled only half of a biscuit. Her stomach didn't feel like it was in the mood for anything solid. Minho gave her a concerned look when she handed the rest of the packet back to him.

"You need to eat," he tried to push it back to her but she shook her head firmly.

"I'll throw it back up," she threatened and he sighed as she waved the food in front of him.

"Keep it. You need your energy," he said quietly.

"I'm self-sustainable," she grinned jokingly but he wasn't having any of it. "Don't worry, I'm okay. I'll beg you for food when I'm hungry."

"I'll be waiting," he chuckled and ruffled her hair.

She sent him a disgruntled glare at that and then looked about the room at the others. Aris kept zoning out every now and then, she didn't know what was wrong with him. Newt was eating and listening to the others chat. Brenda and Jorge were trying to make themselves seem inconspicuous in the corner, as if their job of guiding them out of the city was done now and they were just tagalongs. It was like they were just waiting for something to happen.

Thomas finally blinked awake and stretched with a wide yawn. He paused, glancing at her briefly, and she saw that there was something not quite right with him. Cassandra wondered if she could poke him with her mind. He looked back at her again when he noticed her persistent questioning gaze.

" _Teresa spoke to me_ ," he finally told her. " _That something awful was going to happen, and that I had to trust her. But that we'll be back together._ "

Cassandra stared at him for a couple of seconds before turning her eyes to the shrivelled wooden floorboards. It felt like something heavy had just sat on her chest. She was so done with trying to figure things out; she just wanted to get everything over with already.

" _She told me something similar too_ ," she told him. " _Do you trust Teresa?_ "

" _I… yeah, I guess I do._ "

" _Like how I trust Minho?_ " she raised an eyebrow.

" _Maybe…_ "

" _Maybe isn't good enough, Thomas._ "

" _Hey, I wouldn't know how much you trust the guy!"_ he sounded scandalised and she snickered inwardly. She took such great delight in teasing him, sometimes he felt like a younger brother to her and that made her want to gag.

" _If he told me to jump off a shucking cliff, I would do it in a heartbeat_ ," she said. " _No questions asked._ "

" _That's a bit extreme, isn't it…_ "

" _That's love, shuckface._ "

" _I'm telling Minho._ "

She threw her packet of biscuits at him but he grabbed it out of the air and started munching on them. "Thanks," he said with his mouth full and she scowled distastefully at him. Everyone in the room gave her a weird look as she continued to glare at him.

"I hate his face so much," she muttered darkly and they rolled their eyes.

"So she randomly chucks things at him and that's normal?" Jorge asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Newt nodded but he sent her a knowing look.

So did Minho, and she could see from his eyes that he was telling her to let him know exactly what happened later. Then he handed her another packet of biscuits. Cassandra frowned angrily when she realised that Thomas had just stolen her food. She hated him even more.

About twenty minutes later, Minho announced that it was time to move on. They started to get ready to head out, checking their supplies and discussing rations. Newt went over to chat with Thomas and asked about his shoulder, then Brenda somehow got dragged into the conversation.

Cassandra was just standing up when Newt leaned forwards to whisper in Thomas' ear. "She your new girlfriend? I'm telling Teresa."

She choked on her own saliva and started coughing violently. Thomas looked at her with a stricken expression and her face twisted into disgust. Minho patted her on the back and offered some more water but she shook her head, pushing it away. She regained her composure and sniffed delicately.

" _You shucking player_ ," she told him and his voice sputtered unintellgibly in her mind.

"Okay," Minho announced. "Let's go."

He moved towards the door and opened it, stepping out into the cool night air. Cassandra followed right behind him and they started their trek across the desert once again. She brought Minho a good distance ahead of the others and immediately leaned in to tell him every single detail of the conversation she had with Thomas- minus the reason she threw her biscuits at the boy. It made her feel conspiratorial and gossipy as she chatted animatedly to him. Minho didn't let her down when he snickered and joked about Thomas' love life with her.

The hours dragged on and they fell into another lapse of silence. Thomas walked alongside them, a couple of meters to her right. He kept shooting her glances every now and then, something close to pity. He drifted towards them a few times to chat, then away again to talk to Newt.

She suddenly remembered the capsule in her pocket and wondered whether she should tell Minho about it. Neither of them would know what to do about it though, and it would just complicate things further. Whatever PROPHESI was supposed to be, it was probably just another Variable that she had to wait to find out.

Minho interlaced his fingers through hers and she smiled at him. The conversation she had with Thomas lingered at the back of her mind, and its subject matter was always close at the forefront. She tried, almost desperately, not to think about it but it wasn't something that could be easily ignored. The void in her heart seemed to dig deeper with each passing second. It was painful, especially with Minho walking beside her because she knew that it affected him just as much as it did to her.

Each stolen glance he sent her way, and every small smile just made the tears want to resurface again.

It was around four in the morning that Minho allowed them to take a nap before they made the last stretch to the mountains. They towered higher than ever before and she could now make out blots of shapes along its surface, vestiges of trees and life. The jagged edges lining its contours were clearer now, throwing deeper shadows across the dark landmark.

"Cassie," Minho stroked her head affectionately and she looked up at him. "Get some sleep."

"Not without you," her fingers curled around his arm and dragged him down to the ground with her.

He chuckled and pulled her close as they got comfortable- as comfortable as lying on solid earth could be. Minho gazed at her softly and she snuggled under his chin, wrapping an arm around his waist. Most of the Gladers had already gone out like a light literally a minute after Minho announced their break.

"Night, Cassie," he pecked her on the head and rested his face against hers.

"Night, Minho."

She closed her eyes and listened to his breaths growing even. A couple of minutes later, she felt the lull of sleep dragging her consciousness under. But it was interrupted by a poisonous whisper.

" _I see you._ "

Cassandra tore her eyes open and felt her heart jump up to her throat.

" _You have something I want_."

And like a trigger, she felt the tears burst forth as her body shook with silent sobs.

* * *

Minho woke up an hour later from the beep of the alarm on his watch. His arms were empty, invisible air replacing the warm body he had laid with before falling asleep. He pushed himself up hastily and scanned the horizon searchingly. She was standing a good distance away, her back turned towards him as she stared at the northern mountain range.

He scrambled to his feet and ran towards her, boots thumping frantically across the dust covered land at the same rhythmm as his heart. The boy reached her shortly and circled around to face her. Cassandra's eyes were wide and unblinking, fear marked deeply within her dark gaze.

"Cassie?" he breathed and reached out to touch her hesitantly.

He remembered the time in the Glade when she first started acting this way, when she screamed and spouted gibberish at his touch. She wasn't responding now though as she continued to look fixatedly at the mountains ahead of her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, taking her face between his hands.

Minho pressed a kiss to her lips and she blinked, slowly returning to reality. Her eyes flicked to his, and his heart almost stopped beating altogether when he saw there was no recognition reflected back in them.

"Cassie, it's me," he whispered coaxingly. "Your Minho."

She took in a deep shuddering breath and tears pooled around the outer corners of her eyes, spilling down her stained cheeks in deep trails. Her entire body shook and he hugged her tightly. Frightened whimpers escaped her lips as she sobbed quietly into his shoulder. Finally, he heard her speak and the trembling words he heard sent a wave of icy dread coursing through his veins.

"Everything looks distorted. But I can see him in front of me."


	30. EUPHORION

**ACT II SCENE XXX  
EUPHORION**

* * *

 **SHE HELD ONTO MINHO** tightly as her tears continued to stain his shirt. They blurred her eyesight, but she could still see Nick's figure in the distance staring back at her with his dull green eyes. When she had woken up after dozing off for a while, she instantly knew that something was wrong. Everything swirled and danced in front of her, as if they were melting away before her very eyes. Then she saw him.

At first she thought that she was dreaming but she could make shapes out- the Gladers, the mountains. She remembered sleeping next to Minho. Every time she took a step towards Nick, he would turn around and walk away until she stopped. They repeated the process until she was convinced that it was all in her head, that none of it was real.

Her body felt weak and she leaned against Minho until her knees gave way. He fell to the ground with her and stroked her hair soothingly, trying his best to comfort her. She didn't dare open her eyes when the tears stopped flowing though, afraid that the world still blended together in a chaos of indistinguishable shapes.

"Cassie, are you okay?" he whispered in her ear.

"I don't know," she replied with a small whimper. "I'm scared, Minho."

"I got you. It's okay, Cassie, I'm here."

She sobbed again but no tears came this time, her body just trembled in his arms. After a while, she heard footsteps approaching them from behind her.

"What happened?" Thomas asked worriedly.

"Cass, are you alright?" Newt panted slightly. "Minho?"

Minho shook his head and she felt him burying his face in the crook of her neck. She still refused to open her eyes. What if he was still there? What if he had come closer and was peering over Minho's shoulder at her? She was terrified of him.

"Cass?" Thomas asked again. "Are you…."

"Cassie, its okay," Minho shushed her as another dry sob broke through. "Just open your eyes and tell us what you see."

"What do you mean-"

"Cassie…"

She nodded reluctantly, then slowly opened her eyes a fraction. Traces of tears still blurred her vision and she blinked them away. A purple glow shot through the pale blue sky behind the mountains. He was gone, like a mirage, and she took a deep shuddering breath.

"He's gone," she said with a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

"What happened?" Thomas repeated anxiously. "Who did you see?"

Her bottom lip trembled and she bit it, shaking her head and covering her face as she clung to Minho tightly. They were so close to their destination now but she didn't want to take another single step towards it. There was something there, she knew, waiting for her beneath the deep shadows of the pass.

"It was Nick," Minho finally told the other two. "She keeps seeing him, like he's haunting her."

"Bloody hell," Newt swore. "Does she still think it's her fault or… or is there something else we don't know about?"

"We don't know. We used to know him, I guess, when we were kids but…"

"But?" Thomas pressed. "Who is this guy? The shank that got sliced in half when he went down the Box Hole, right?"

"Yeah," Newt answered. "He… he said he knew Cass too, I think. Knew somethin' about her but whenever he tried to say anythin' more, he'd start choking himself."

"Choking himself? Like Alby did?"

"Yeah."

She listened to them talk as her heart continued to thump erratically inside her chest. Why Nick? It wasn't like she was particularly close to him back in the Glade, or in the WICKED facility when they were younger. There was something else, but she couldn't remember it right then. Something similar- a name- at the tip of her tongue.

Minho finally drew back and looked at her, deep furrows along his brows as they pulled together in a tight knot. His eyes scanned her face, looking for a hint that he would never be able to find. Cassandra swallowed the lump in her throat and felt herself standing right at the edge of that deep dark abyss in her heart. Tears threatened to spill forth again as she looked up into his brown eyes.

Minho, the one person she trusted more than anything else in the entire universe. The boy who had always been there for her even when the entire world ended and everything that they had known disappeared. They'd always find each other again no matter how long they were separated. He was more important to her than her own life, but she was the cause of all his suffering.

It was because of her that WICKED came up with a blueprint of analysing the Killzone patterns and designing the Trials to fit that hypothesis. She was the instigator, the one who set their plans into full motion and threw their lives into complete chaos.

From the way she responded to the Variables and to the name they had branded her with, she was different from everyone else.

She was their Tragedy.

Everything started to come into clear focus as the sun crawled up from its bed beneath the line that separated the earth and the cosmos. She knew how she was a Variable now; they wanted to see how her spiral into insanity affected the others. They wanted to see how Minho would respond to her death.

"I can't…" she buried her face in her hands, muffling her anguished cries. "I can't do this anymore."

She felt their alarm at her words as if it was something palpable that wrapped around her. Minho's grip on her shoulders tightened slightly and they started to protest in unison.

"Cass, don't say that."

"You're our bloody princess, you can do anything."

"Cassie," Minho pried her hands from her face gently and lifted her chin up. "You don't have to do this alone."

She sniffed and looked up at him with tired eyes filled with unspeakable pain, then turned around to look at the others. Thomas and Newt nodded their heads at her, reaching their hands out to touch her shoulder reassuringly.

"C'mon, stop being a bloody hero," the blonde smirked at her. "I know you can take care of yourself, but we look out for each other. All of us."

"We'll find a solution," Thomas told her. "We always do. Trust me. You can't give up now when we're so close."

"Dudes, touch her again and I'm gonna start beating you up."

Cassandra laughed in disbelief at that, her lips stretching into a wide grin as the two boys let their hands fall from her shoulder. They sent Minho a disapproving glare but smiled when they saw hers.

"Thank you," she whispered gratefully, averting her gaze to the ground. "I-I think I'm okay now."

"There's no need to thank us," Newt grinned at her and ruffled her hair before pulling back quickly with a glance at Minho. "What are friends for, eh?"

"Other than to steal your food, you mean?" she looked up at them.

"Exactly," Thomas smiled.

She sighed but felt no desire of getting up just yet. Her plan of just sitting there was interrupted by the sound of heavy boots thumping towards them over the ground. They looked up at the same time to see the rest of the Gladers approaching them carefully with Jorge and Brenda in front of the group.

"What are you muchachos doing sitting on the ground?" the man asked.

"I felt like running but I tripped so they came to help me," she invented with a deadpan expression.

They raised an eyebrow at her tale and she huffed.

"It's nothing," she said glumly. "I'm fine. We're fine. All of us are fine. Let's just go."

Cassandra turned back to Minho and nodded her head at him. They pulled each other up from the ground at the same time and there was a silent agreement between them. He gauged the distance of the mountain range and then turned towards the rest of the group, examining them slightly.

"We're gonna reach those shuck mountains today," he told them. "If any of you wanna eat and drink, do it on the way." He paused and waited for them to nod their heads. "Okay. Come on."

They continued to drag their feet towards the now distinguishable shape of the jagged peaks that ran along the mountain range. Brown lifeless rock, dotted with dead trees, stood proudly before them as if they were silent sentinels waiting to greet their new guests. Thomas was walking slightly in front of them next to Brenda, and they were talking in hushed tones. She saw the girl gesture to herself and the boy laughed.

She was totally gonna tell-

"Ow," she muttered when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and she bumped her nose against his shoulder blade. "What the heck, dude."

Cassandra looked up and saw that Thomas' body had gone completely rigid as he stared off into the distance. Her eyes followed the direction of his gaze and found something moving towards them from the mountains. At first she thought it was another mirage, then the figure came closer. She could see a long spear gripped in tightly clenched hands. Dark curls streamed behind her as she stomped her way towards them. Her brows were pulled over biting cold blue eyes, a scowl twisting her lips slightly to the side.

Teresa.


	31. ANTIGONE

**ACT II SCENE XXXI**  
 **ANTIGONE**

* * *

 **SHE COULD FEEL HER LIPS MOVE** automatically stretch into a wide smile at the sight of her friend. It quickly fell though when Teresa continued to stare them down with something akin to burning hatred. Minho gripped her hand tightly by her side and they exchanged concerned looks. Something was off.

"Teresa!" she tried to call but there was no response from the other girl.

Brenda turned towards Thomas sharply and he nodded quickly. Surprise overcame her features before turning to look back at Teresa's approaching figure. The rest of the Gladers stopped behind them and gaped in disbelief.

"What's she doin'?" Newt asked quietly beside Minho. "Why does she look like she doesn't recognise us?"

Thomas frowned and took a step forwards before halting once more. On both Teresa's sides, two more figures joined her advance towards their group. He turned around; eyes wide, and they followed his confused stare to find more figures emerge into view. They closed in around the Gladers, surrounding them on all sides in a perfect circle, with various weapons drawn in their hands.

A whole group of girls with fierce faces and tensed muscles ready to snap at the first sign of trouble.

Group B.

Cassandra drew in a quick breath and turned back around to face Thomas. Their eyes met, both with anxious apprehension.

They both turned back to face north just as Teresa and the rest of the girls stopped around them. She tried desperately to call into the girl's mind but there was nothing- just blank space between them.

Could their connection be switched on and off at will somehow?

She could still reach out to Thomas, and Aris was distant but she felt him too. There was nothing coming from Teresa though. What was happening?

The girl had her piercing gaze focused on Thomas' face, a cold flame danced in her azure eyes. Cassandra swallowed uneasily as she took in the other group, the light from the rising sun glinted off their blades and arrowheads pointed in their direction. She looked to Minho with barely concealed panic and he understood that they were in danger.

He drew his knife and that seemed to be the signal for the others to brandish their own weapons.

"What's this crap about, Teresa?" he asked snarkily. "Nice way to greet your long-lost buddies."

"Teresa, please say something," she said in a softer voice.

She had warned them; that something bad was going to happen- to trust her. But what was she doing? It looked like she had come to kill them off.

Then the blue-eyed girl started in their direction, her boots sending tufts of dust swirling in the air behind her as she stomped towards them. Her hands continued to clutch the deadly spear in an iron grip.

"Teresa?" Newt raised an incredulous eyebrow. "What the bloody-"

"Shut up." It sent them reeling back in shock with how commanding her voice sounded. "And any of you makes a move, the bows start shooting."

Cassandra stared at her with wide eyes and then she felt it, just for the briefest second, before it closed in like a rock shutting tight.

" _Cass._ "

It was a desperate plea for help.

But the connection had been severed as quickly as it came. Teresa swung her spear back and forth between them, causing Minho to pull Cassandra away to the side with him as the girl moved past them. Her eyes searched the group of Gladers around her, flickering between each wary face, until she stopped in front of Thomas.

"Teresa," he whispered as their eyes met.

She didn't respond, merely continuing to stare him down with icy animosity.

"Teresa, what's-"

"Shut up," she repeated in that authoritative voice.

"But what-"

It happened just as Cassandra blinked, but the next thing she knew was that Teresa had brought the butt of her spear crashing into Thomas' face. She started in surprise and the dawning of fear. Thomas fell to his knees, a hand clutching his right cheek in obvious pain.

Minho started towards her, reaching a hand out to grab the spear, then Newt cried out loudly. She staggered backwards as he flew into Minho, knocking him to the ground just as an arrow flew past right in front of her face. It grazed Newt on the shoulder before impaling itself into the cracked ground.

"Newt!" Cassandra gasped in panic. "Minho!"

She rushed towards them, eyes flicking back and forth between them searchingly. Minho looked okay but blood was staining Newt's sleeve. It was nothing lethal but Cassandra tore a strip from the hem of her shirt to cover the wound.

"Consider that a warning," Teresa said emotionlessly.

"Teresa, what the hell?!" Minho looked at her angrily but Cassandra threw herself on him to avoid any further injury.

"Stop, stop," she cried frantically. "Everyone stop! Teresa, we can work-"

"I said shut up," the girl growled, holding her spear up, then she turned to the side. "Is your name Thomas?"

His mouth fell as he gaped at her in disbelief. "You know who I-"

Another loud thwack resounded as she rammed the end of her spear into his head again with more force than was necessary. Cassandra continued to hold Minho down as they stared in growing incredulity.

"You know who I am!" he yelled at her.

"I used to, anyway," she said with venom and disgust. "Now I'm going to ask you one more time. Is your name Thomas?"

"Yes! My name is Thomas!"

"Bloody hell," Newt whispered.

Teresa nodded once before starting to back away from their group, pointing the blade of her spear savagely in front of her. She re-joined the circle of girls and looked around before resting her gaze on Thomas once more.

"You're coming with us," she called. "Thomas. Come on. Remember, anyone tries something, the arrows fly again."

"What about the girl?" someone asked, a blonde with pigtails carrying a bow. She might have been the one who shot the first arrow. "She shouldn't be with these ruffians."

Teresa looked at her and Cassandra felt her heart thump painfully.

"You're welcome to join us," Teresa said.

"No way!" Minho yelled at her. "You're not taking them anywhere!"

"You know this is where I belong," Cassandra said, not taking her gaze off of the girl. "You too."

" _I have to do this._ "

She shook her head, trying to tell her that she didn't have to, but Teresa's eyes were adamant.

"Enough. This isn't some stupid game. I'm going to start counting. Every time I hit a multiple of five, we'll kill one of you with an arrow. We'll do it until Thomas is the only one left, then we'll take him anyway. It's up to you."

"What the hell is that shuck girl up to?" Minho seethed next to her ear.

Cassandra wished she knew, that Teresa would just tell her what's going on and not be so damn mysterious about everything. Her head was already suffering enough without all the added confusion and worry. How could they trust her when she was acting this way?

"One!"

Thomas started to walk forwards and Minho called for him to wait.

"Don't be a bloody idiot, Tommy!" Newt shouted, panic evident in his voice.

"She's gonna kill you, you stupid shuckface!" Minho hissed loudly.

He ignored them, slowly making his way to Teresa before standing right in front of her.

"Fine. Take me."

"I only made it to one," Teresa responded.

"Yeah. I'm really brave that way."

She beat him down to the ground with her spear again. Thomas spat onto the ground and his saliva was tinged red.

"Bring the bag."

Two girls broke the formation of the circle and went towards Thomas. A tall dark-skinned girl with wild unruly curls was holding a worn burlap sack as she approached the boy on the ground. They paused for a moment as Teresa started yelling again.

"We're taking him with us! If anybody follows, I'll hit him again and we'll start shooting you. We won't really bother aiming. Just let the arrows fly any old way they feel like."

"Teresa!" Minho called angrily. "You catch the Flare that quickly?! Your mind's obviously gone already!"

She slammed the butt of her spear against the back of Thomas' head again and they winced at the loud crack resounding from the impact. He collapsed flat on his front into the dirt, groaning in pain.

"Anything else you wanna say?" she looked at them. Minho took a step forwards with a biting look on his face, but Cassandra held him back with terrified eyes. He looked at her as she shook her head frantically. "Didn't think so," Teresa continued. "Put the bag over him."

The two girls grabbed him, hauling him off the ground and Thomas groaned again as they handled his shoulder roughly. The dark-skinned girl bent over him with the sack in her hands.

"Don't resist," they heard her say. "Or it'll just get worse."

She paused and Cassandra thought there was genuine pity on her face as she looked down at the poor abused boy.

"Better just to go along and let us kill you. Doesn't do any good to have a lot of pain along the way."

She slipped the bag over his head, pulled it across the rest of his body and tied the end at his feet with a rope. Both the dark-skinned girl and the one with blonde pigtails grabbed the end of the rope around Thomas' head.

Then they started to drag him away.


	32. DANAE

**ACT II SCENE XXXII  
DANAE**

* * *

 _ **"I DON'T HAVE A CHOICE."**_

Her words sounded almost garbled, like it was bobbing up and down in water.

" _They forced-_ "

" _I can't- blocking our connec-_ "

" _I can barely- but you-_ "

" _Be careful, Cass- they're-_ "

Cassandra reached a hand up to rub her aching temple. It was really taking a toll on her brain with how much she was straining it to keep the connection stable enough to hear her distorted voice.

"Teresa! Don't do this to me!" Thomas shouted and the girl slammed her fist into the middle of the bag. A wounded howl erupted from it that made everyone flinch.

"Since you obviously don't care about yourself," Teresa said loudly. "Talk again and we'll start shooting your friends. That sound good to you?" She turned around abruptly to face the Gladers. "I meant what I said! There won't be a warning! Follow us and the arrows fly!"

They watched as she bent down and grabbed Thomas' head. Her lips moved right next to where his ear was supposed to be.

"What're you saying to him?" the dark-skinned girl asked.

"I'm letting him know just how much I'm enjoying this. How much I'm enjoying my revenge. Do you mind?" Teresa arched an eyebrow.

"Well. Glad you're having so much fun but we have to hurry."

"I know," Teresa nodded and grabbed Thomas' head one more time, shaking it roughly. Her lips pressed briefly to the sack again before she stood up and waved her hand for them to move on. The two girls started dragging Thomas away again and the rest of the group that surrounded the Gladers backed away.

Arrows continued to stay trained on them, pulled tautly against their strings.

"Hey! You dumb shucking psycho shank!" Minho yelled. "Don't think we're gonna forget this! Thomas! Don't worry, we'll find you! We'll jump those stupid girls when the time is right! Just wait for us, we'll steal their weapons and then-"

Teresa punched Thomas in the gut again and Minho fell silent with a resentful scowl on his face.

They watched for a couple of minutes as the girls walked off into the distance, dragging Thomas across the now rocky terrain. Cassandra could see each bump his body wrapped in the stupid burlap sack went over. Minho turned to her just then and his expression was filled with chagrin.

"She said to trust her?" he asked sceptically. "As she beats the klunk out of one of our friends and drags him off in a shuck bag to eat his heart?"

Her eyebrow rose incredulously at his question as she glanced sideways at him.

"Her strategy does seem flawed," she replied with dry humour. "She said she didn't have a choice. That they were forced to do it."

Minho snorted derisively and glared into the distance again. "Sure. She was so broken up about it when she slammed that shuck spear into his head."

"Do we… follow 'em?" Newt asked hesitantly as he rubbed his shoulder unconsciously. "I don't feel like being made into a pincushion though."

"We're going in the same shuck direction anyway," Minho responded, sounding extremely frustrated. "C'mon, we're wasting time standing here in the shucking sun."

"Are they really gonna kill him?" Frypan asked from behind them as they walked on.

Cassandra shook her head. "I don't think they will."

"You sure about that? They looked about ready to roast him on a stick," Newt pointed. "I'm not bloody convinced."

"WICKED obviously planned this from the beginning with Thomas' tattoo," she tried to reason. "It's another stupid test or whatever. They saved his shuck butt out there and sent people to protect him, why would they kill him like this?"

"Who knows what those slintheads think?" Minho frowned. "Maybe killin' him would serve some kinda purpose for them."

"Well, that wouldn't make any sense, would it?" she shot back heatedly.

"How does _any_ of this make any shucking sense?" he retorted.

"If you think about it for a second, it probably will," Cassandra stopped in her tracks and looked at him with furious disbelief.

"They almost shot me down with an arrow, that doesn't mean anything to you?" he turned back to her, his voice holding a biting tone.

"Hey," Newt interjected, his eyes bouncing back and forth between the both of them nervously. "There's no use tearing ourselves apart trying to figure out why Teresa is being a bloody traitor."

Cassandra sighed in exasperation and turned back, walking at a brisk pace ahead of them.

She didn't bother to argue anymore, they were all set on believing that Teresa had betrayed them. Cassandra was the only one who could hear the girl's helpless pleas and she held on to the hope that Teresa was still her friend. Whatever it was that WICKED was forcing her to do, she trusted the girl to keep Thomas safe even if it meant he'd get a few bruises on the way. She felt bad for Teresa, remembering blurry memories of the times she told Cassandra about how much she cared for Thomas.

The ground beneath them soon turned uneven and rocky as they reached the base of the mountains. Minho stopped them and looked around; they had seen the girls carry Thomas up the steep slope to a pass high above the ground. It seemed heading that way wouldn't be an option for them, plus the sun was beating too strongly on them to make a climb that high without one of them passing out from heatstroke. Their supplies were dwindling to a dangerous low and they had to be smart about the decisions they made now.

"There's a gap in the mountains further east that we can go through," Jorge finally spoke up after about eons of silent observation.

"Decided to be useful again, have you?" Minho threw him a nasty glare. "What else do you know, huh?"

The man sighed and just about stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "Sorry I even said anything then."

"Anyway, it's worth a shot," Newt said. "Better than finding another path to climb up."

"Fine," Minho assented, a muscle in his jaw twitching dangerously. "Let's go."

They turned eastwards and walked along the scant shade the mountains offered but the sun was almost directly over their heads now. Cassandra started to drag, falling back to the end of the group while avoiding Minho. She was still kinda peeved about the way he acted with her earlier. They've had their fair share of disagreements before but she felt fiercely protective of Teresa and she didn't appreciate the way the others talked about her.

Somehow she found herself in between Aris and Brenda, feeling like she had just exiled herself from the rest of the pack with the outsiders. The boy on her left kept his eyes trained on the ground as if it held the secrets of the universe. He'd been acting pretty oddly recently; maybe it was because of Group B. She wondered what was going through his head, then decided that she probably didn't want to know anyway.

"Why aren't you with your alpha boyfriend up front of the group?" Brenda asked unexpectedly on her right.

"Shut up," she muttered under her breath, then spoke at her normal tone. "Why have you been so quiet lately, huh? Is it because Tommy isn't here for you to make heart eyes at?"

The girl snorted. "I'm not the one makin' heart eyes around here."

"Sure," Cassandra rolled her eyes. "And I'm not losing my mind."

A frown appeared on Brenda's face then and she looked somewhat guilty. Cassandra narrowed her eyes at the other girl, walking closer towards her.

"Do you know something that I don't?" she asked in a low threatening whisper.

Brenda shook her head quickly- too quickly. "Nothing that would help anyway. I'm not part of the Psych team, I don't know anything about the Variables they come up with."

"Oh, yeah? Then which part were you in on?"

"I was in Tech," she said with a soft sigh. "The only thing I did was help build the Swipe."

"What's that?"

"The chip in your brains that removes your memories," she looked at her.

"Then you know what they did to me?" Cassandra widened her eyes. "You know what's wrong with me?"

"No…" Brenda said almost sadly. "I only know how the chip works."

"How does it work then?"

She hesitated for a moment before turning back to her with wary eyes. "It's the one thing that's keeping you alive."

Cassandra blinked several times at the statement. She opened her mouth to ask more questions but a shout up ahead interrupted her. Several of the Gladers stopped in front of them, then she saw Frypan and Archie running up a steep incline ahead.

"Oh, shuck!" she heard Frypan yell. "We got company!"

She ran forwards as the boys started to move around frantically. In front of the group, where she was supposed to be, she saw Minho with his knife out. He had a hand over his face, pressing against a wound where blood was pouring down the side of his face.

A group of Cranks were attacking him.


	33. PALAMEDES

**ACT II SCENE XXXIII  
PALAMEDES**

* * *

 **SHE FELT HER INSIDES** twist vehemently with something she hadn't felt for a while now. Regret squeezed her heart tightly as she made a dash towards the incline in front of her. Flashes of pulling Nick out of the Box and tears stinging the rope burns on her hands swam through her mind as she hurtled into the first Crank she saw.

Cassandra drove her knife deeply into the emancipated man's torso, twisting the blade mercilessly in his chest cavity before ripping it out. She pushed herself back to a stand, heaving with quickened breaths, and looked around searchingly.

"Minho!" she cried, rushing towards him.

He saw her and there was only concern in his eyes. She reached him, almost crashing into him at how fast she was going to close the distance between them, and reached out with frantic hands to hold his face.

"Are you okay? You're bleeding all over, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have left-"

"Cassie, it's okay," he told her, pulling her away from the struggling bodies that surrounded them on all fronts. "C'mon, we need to get rid of 'em."

"But you-"

"I'm okay," he stroked her hair briefly before turning to stab a Crank in the back of the head. The wretched thing fell to the ground and Archie zoomed off to fight another one nearby. Minho turned back to her and his eyes softened.

She shook her head, eyes searching his face for any more injuries. It looked like one of the Cranks flung a rock at his head, making that horrible gash. Cassandra grabbed his arm and took a step to bury her knife to the hilt in the Crank that was running up behind him. She pulled it out with a loud squelch and turned back to Minho with concern.

"I overreacted- and now you're hurt-" she started again but he just hushed her.

"That shucking Crank had good aim," he said begrudgingly and pulled her out of the way as a couple of bodies flew in their direction. A Crank with mould growing all over his head tackled Newt to the ground and started clawing relentlessly.

"Will you two stop shucking kissing and making up and bloody help?!" the blonde screamed at them.

Cassandra and Minho exchanged glances before stepping over and kicked the Crank off of him. The wild man snarled with a feral growl as he jumped back on all fours and lunged forwards once more. Cassandra sliced its throat as Minho severed a long gash along its abdomen. Guts spilled out on the ground and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. The smell of rotting innards was worst than anything she could have ever imagined. Minho stepped over the body and helped Newt up from the ground.

Cassandra started when two more Cranks came out of seemingly nowhere and threw themselves at both boys. She picked up the sword that Newt had dropped earlier and ran over to stab the Crank that was on top of Minho. He pushed it off him and took her outstretched hand to pull himself to his feet. Turning around, she saw Newt slamming a large rock furiously over the Crank that had attacked him.

Its head was a mangled mess.

"Dude, it's dead," Minho said.

"Newt, you can stop now," she frowned with concern.

The blonde continued to smash the head into the ground with loud grunts, completely ignoring them as if he hadn't heard.

"Newt!" Minho yelled loudly and the boy started as if waking from a trance.

He dropped the rock and scrambled backwards away from the body, shaking his head almost blearily. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds.

"Whoa, my head felt a bit weird then," he told them.

"The sun finally fried all your brain cells?" Minho snickered.

Newt blinked and his eyes glanced quickly at Cassandra. "Very funny, Minho."

Frypan was just sending the last Crank to Neverland as they turned back around to the others. Cassandra paused in amusement- Neverland, where the heck was that?

"Well," Minho said as his eyes swept over the battlefield before pausing to the cave in front of him. "Looks like we got shelter now."

"What if there's more inside?" Newt made a disgruntled face.

"Only way to know is to find out," he grinned and took a step forwards to the cavern entrance.

Cassandra swiftly followed after him with Newt right beside her. They took a tentative peek inside, clicking on their flashlights to chase away the deep shadows. It was a pretty big cave, and there were a few tatty blankets lying around on the sides. Water dripped from somewhere at the back, leaving a shiny wet trail that leaked down to the mouth. There weren't any more Cranks and it was cool inside.

"Looks good to me," Minho shrugged. "C'mon."

He took her hand and went inside. It smelled and she twisted her face up with disgust. Minho glanced at her and patted her hand.

"Now, now, beggars can't be choosers," he said teasingly.

"I know," she responded but continued to look around doubtfully. Cassandra turned to him suddenly. "Your head…"

"I'm okay," he repeated, stopping her hand in mid reach. "Stop worrying about me."

"How can I not?" she looked at him incredulously.

He frowned at her and there was an unsettling look in his eyes as he averted his gaze. "Cassie, it's nothing, okay? I can take care of it myself."

"Minho-"

"I don't need your help."

It felt like he had driven a nail through her heart and she let her hand fall to her side. She swallowed back her retort and simply nodded her head stiffly. Minho blinked and looked back at her, only just realising his mistake, but she already turned around to walk away. Newt passed by her on the way inside and sent her a concerned look, then turned his attention to Minho who sighed before giving out more instructions to the others.

"We'll take a break here, there's some shade through the valley so we'll make our way through it to the other side. Frypan, c'mere, how much water do we have left?"

Cassandra looked around at the corpses that littered the ground and turned away towards the pass. She walked a few meters before finding a crack in the mountain wall that would have gone easily unnoticeable. It was small, about four feet high and a little more than half of that in breadth. She bent down and slipped inside, resting her head against the cool but sharp stone.

There was another trail of water trickling down the inside wall and she pressed her palm against it. Her throat was parched and she could swear that her insides were covered in a layer of red dust. Could there be a water source nearby? Some kind of spring or pocket inside the mountains? There were still two more days to make it to the Safe Haven.

She reached into her pocket and clutched the packet of biscuits that Minho had given her earlier that morning. Or had it been the day before? She couldn't remember when was the last time she had eaten. Her stomach was trying to devour itself and it hurt a lot. Why did she feel like such a burden?

Cassandra heard herself sniffle and reached up to wipe her nose with the back of her hand. She withdrew it and looked down to see a smear of blood across her fingers. Tears swam in her eyes again as she pinched the bridge of her nose and leaned her head back.

"Cass? Where are you?"

She heard Newt's voice calling from the entrance of the cave. Two pairs of boots crunched against the pebbles that littered the ground and Archie started in panic.

"I just saw her standing here a minute ago. Where is she?"

"Shuck. Wait, we'll look for her," Newt said and their footsteps approached her hiding spot. "Don't tell Minho just yet, he's gonna freak out. Maybe she went to scout ahead."

"Okay, yeah, that sounds like something she'd do," Archie responded. "Let's go."

They passed by and continued down the pass. She swallowed more blood, the taste of its coppery scent made her nauseous. A few minutes later, boots thumped hard across the ground as the two boys ran back towards the cave. She heard their panted breaths as they stopped and someone inside asked what was wrong.

"It's Cass! She's gone!" Newt answered in dismay.

"We can't find her anywhere!"

Someone ran out from the cave and down the narrow path that led to her. There was a pause before she heard Minho's voice.

"Cassie…" he spoke softly. "Please don't do this."

Then he ran off down the pass as well, calling her name loudly. Newt and the other Gladers were speaking frantically, wondering if they should organise a search party for her. She listened to their fear and confusion, her eyes shutting close tiredly.

"Just look around!" Newt exclaimed. "Someone needs to go after Minho. She'll come back. She has to…"

He ran off after his friend down the valley. She felt guilt at their concern and thought that there shouldn't be a need for them to worry about her. There was no need for them to care. It'd be easier if they didn't have to look out for her anymore; they didn't need to waste their resources. It was the perfect opportunity.

Maybe she should just stay there.

Maybe she should just step off the edge.


	34. ALOPE

**ACT II SCENE XXXIV  
ALOPE**

* * *

 **SHE HAD DOZED OFF** in her little hole but the sun was still shining brightly outside when she eventually jerked awake. It was warm and stifling, but the shade provided a small buffer against the scorch. At first she couldn't remember anything and her heart rate started to accelerate with panic. Then everything eventually came back to her and she thought about how much of a coward she was being to run away from her problems.

There was a commotion nearby, but she couldn't make much of it out through the fatigue that continued to envelop her. Cassandra's body felt weak and her right temple throbbed with a dull ache. Slowly, the voices started to become distinguishable words that she could understand. She recognised Newt's voice, and he sounded nervous.

"Minho, calm down. We'll find her, she couldn't have just gone off like that."

She couldn't believe that they were still looking for her. How much time had passed since?

"Maybe someone took her? What if it was Group B? Or WICKED? It's all my fault, Newt! She was right there and I pushed her away-"

"Don't be daft, you didn't push her away. If you just explained it to her like I'd said, she'll understand."

"You don't get it! I'm supposed to look out for her- great shucking job I've done so far. But you saw her, there's nothing I can do to help and she- she's just always-"

There was a yell of frustration and something broke against the wall.

"Bloody hell, Minho, pull yourself together."

"I've lost her, Newt! I've finally lost her for good!"

"Come on, man, you know that's not true."

Cassandra clutched her middle as acid bubbled inside her stomach. Her face scrunched up in pain as she sucked in her tummy while pressing her arms against it. She gasped and clenched her teeth to stay quiet.

"What am I gonna do without her?"

"Minho, stop being so bloody melodramatic."

"This is Cassie we're talking about. Cassie!" There was a brief pause. "Shuck! What if it was the shucking voice in her head? What if it came and took her? It's gonna kill her, she's gonna die! Maybe she's already dead… Oh, no."

"H-hey," Newt sounded legitimately frightened now. "Don't be a shank."

"She's gone… she's really shucking gone."

Cassandra let out a small groan as she doubled over and breathed heavily. Newt cut himself off in the middle of his sentence and she heard the shuffling of boots crunching on more gravel.

"Did you-?"

The heavy thumps of their footsteps approached her and a second later; their faces peered through the opening at her. She could see their shocked faces through the slivers of gaps in her hair. Minho looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"Bloody hell. Cass? Have you been here the entire time?!" the blonde cried in disbelief.

"C-Cassie…? Is that…"

"Go away," she whimpered and tried to suppress another cry of pain.

"What happened? Did you get hurt?" Newt asked. "Was it another blackout?"

They both dropped down to the ground and crowded around the small hole. She looked up at them briefly with strained eyes before letting her hair cover her face like a curtain again.

"Just… go. Just leave me here."

"Say that one more time and I'm gonna go in there and whack you myself," Newt threatened.

"I'm serious," she sighed. "WICKED's gonna kill me anyway. I don't… I don't want any of you to see it happen."

"Cassie… how much did you hear?" Minho asked tightly.

"Enough."

"Cassie, please don't do this. Come out here."

"What were you gonna say, Minho? That I what, huh? I always what?" she looked at him with unshed tears in her eyes.

"Tell her exactly what you told me," Newt said demandingly.

"I- Shuck," Minho covered the top half of his face with a hand and let out a breath. Newt looked at him expectantly and she could see his body tensed slightly. "You're always lookin' out for everyone but there's nothin' any of us can do for you. And it just drives me crazy."

Her bottom lip trembled and she buried her face in her knees again. She thought her voice couldn't sound any more pathetic than it already did, but she managed to surprise herself.

"Just leave me, Minho. I'm gonna die, or turn into a Crank, whatever. I'm a lost cause."

She let out another moan of pain as a sharp jolt went through her belly and she squeezed her middle, balling her fists tightly. Now she couldn't tell whether the tears were from pain or self-pity.

"Cass, when was the last time you ate?" Newt asked.

"It doesn't matter," she replied through gritted teeth.

"That's it, I'm dragging you out of this hole whether you like it or not."

He started to crawl inside and she felt his hand grab hold of her jacket. Cassandra squirmed in agitation, trying to get him off her.

"Stop it," she protested weakly. "It hurts. Everything hurts, just _leave_ me."

"You shanks are gonna be the death of me, I swear," Newt grunted as his other hand got a grip on her sleeve. He started to pull her out and she tried to struggle but her entire body felt numb with pain. "Oi, Minho. A little help here?"

The boy was just staring at them from the opening, his eyes fixed on her with inner turmoil brewing within.

"Minho!" Newt snapped.

He started, giving Newt a brief look before hesitantly reaching inside to grab hold of her arm.

"Stop," she pleaded. "Seriously, please stop. I'm so tired. Aren't you?"

"I'm getting real tired of both your klunk," Newt retorted as he finally yanked her out into the open. The sun had dipped a little lower from its highest point in the sky; the looming mountain walls were now able to shield them from most of its onslaught.

She looked up at Newt before glancing at Minho briefly- he had his eyes trained on the ground. The blonde stood up in front of them and planted his hands on his hips sternly.

"You're both gonna talk this out, then kiss and make up," he told them. "You need to stop being so buggin' pessimistic and you need to talk some bloody sense into her. We'll be waitin' in there."

With that, he turned around and marched back into the cave where the other Gladers were lying about. An awkward silence fell between them now that Newt was gone and neither of them had the nerve to even look at the other. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably and she was still getting pangs of pain from the hunger. Finally, after what seemed like centuries, she heard Minho's voice.

"Did you mean it?" he asked quietly.

Cassandra hesitated before replying. "Yes."

There wasn't a single sound at all, not even the background buzz of silence itself. Everything was completely still, as if they'd just been sucked into a vacuum. It made her feel even more vulnerable and insecure than huddling in the stupid hole.

"You know I'm right," her voice didn't sound like her own. "It's just going to get worse. And I don't want to see you suffer because of me anymore. They planned this, just like Thomas. They're gonna do something horrible to him, and they're gonna do it to me too."

He didn't reply straightaway and she stared unseeingly at the rocks that littered the dry ground.

"You don't… make me suffer, Cassie," he said it so softly, she was afraid she would miss what he had to say. "But I _would_ suffer without you."

She closed her eyes before opening them to look at him. Their gazes finally met and there was newfound conviction in his. Minho shook his head and sighed, pulling himself closer to her. He took her hand and she almost flinched away.

"I don't care how hard it's going to be," he told her, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I don't care if you've lost hope. I'll never give up on you."

"Minho."

He leaned forwards and pressed his lips against the top of her head.

"I want you to remember that," he said. "You're stuck with me."

Cassandra slipped her arms around his middle in a tight hug and felt her body tremble. A part of her wanted to stay with him so badly, but the other part kept telling her that it would be the worse decision she ever made. She wanted to believe his words but she knew she couldn't, not when she could guess what the outcome would be.

"You're gonna regret this," she whispered.

"Never."

"You'll wish you never said it."

"Never, Cassie."

She heard his warm voice whisper in her ear and she froze at the words he spoke, like an oath that promised immeasurable sorrow when broken. Her grip around him tightened and she drew a sharp breath, heart clenching tightly in her chest. Fear like nothing she had ever known before took hold of her and she fought to keep her voice steady.

"I'm letting you take that back," she said.

"I don't want to," he replied stubbornly.

"Take it back."

"No."

"Take it back, Minho!" her voice wavered, tears threatening to spill again.

He pulled away and looked at her, stroking her cheek with calloused fingers. She shook her head at him, begging him with her eyes.

"Remember that," he told her. "If nothing else, remember this."

He leaned back in and kissed her deeply. A thousand different emotions struggled for dominance inside her heart but she only knew one. There might never be another time for her to say it back to him so she whispered the words against his sweet lips. Even if it made the chasm that little bit deeper when she would finally fall into it. They parted and she wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes.

"You're a shuck fool," she told him. "Or a masochist."

Minho smirked. "I wouldn't change a thing."


	35. ANTIOPE

**ACT II SCENE XXXV  
ANTIOPE**

* * *

 **NEWT AND FRYPAN** forced fed her the second they had laid eyes on her. She tried to eat as much as she could but it felt like her body was rejecting everything she put into it. Minho decided to let them rest and continue the march down the pass when the sun sets. Jorge said they'd be able to reach the other side of the mountains by morning of the second day.

Cassandra was finally able to tend to that gash on Minho's head, cleaning it with a strip of cloth she tore from her shirt. The wound had mostly scabbed over and it wasn't serious enough to need stitches. When she was done, she looked around and frowned, noticing that something was wrong. She turned to Newt who merely blinked back owlishly.

"What's that look?" he asked.

"Where's Aris?" she asked, frown deepening.

Minho cocked his head to the side and looked about the cave as if to confirm her findings. He turned back with a shrug.

"We all went out looking for you earlier," he said. "Maybe he's still out there."

"No, man, I think he took off," Ed said from the opposite wall. "I was with him and he just disappeared. Thought he might have wandered back here but looks like he didn't."

"Well, guess, we know whose side he's on," Minho said, leaning his back against the stone wall.

"He has been acting pretty weirdly," Newt said. Guess she hadn't been the only one who noticed. "Must've gone back to Group B."

"Whatever, he made his choice," Minho waved his hand to diffuse the subject.

That still didn't put Cassandra at ease though. When Group B had circled around them earlier, they didn't seem to even acknowledge that Aris was there. They had only asked for her to join them and not him. Despite that, would the boy still try to look for them again?

She tried to get some rest as she leaned against Minho's side but her mind continued to churn out different scenarios in her head. What would they find at the Safe Haven? Was there even one or was WICKED just playing tricks with them again? Most of all, what would happen to her?

Minho was shaking her awake an hour later after her brain decided to shut down. They quickly gathered their things and exited the cave to start their trek through the mountain pass. The lifeless rocky walls loomed high on either sides but she could see the reddish orange hue of the setting sun in the gap above them. Somehow, it felt sinister in the wake of their walk with the only sound being the thumping of their boots on the ground. It reminded her of the splotchy memories she had of burnt skies and falling ash.

The pass stretched on monotonously for another day until it finally opened out to a gradual decline. A large patch of trees grew unhindered further down the slope where a river may have gone through too many years ago. Newt let out a breathless laugh next to her as they stopped to survey the new scenery.

"I'm claimin' that friggin' tree to myself," he pointed off into the distance.

Cassandra chuckled in amusement. "That's mine then," she pointed to his left. "I'm naming it Bertha."

"I think one of the cows back in the Glade was named Bertha," he responded and she shoved his shoulder jokingly. He almost lost his footing, arms flailing in the air as he teetered on the edge and she lunged forwards to grab hold of his shirt. Cassandra felt her heart dropped into her stomach from the scare. They stared with wide eyes, mouths agape, before snorting with laughter at each other.

"Now, now, children," Minho said, the corner of his lips twitching into a smirk. "Play nice."

"Yes, father," Newt replied sarcastically.

"You sound like Thomas when he's trying to be funny," she told him then snickered when he swatted her on the arm.

"Come on, you jokers," he said before holding her hand and taking a step forwards down the incline.

She followed behind him, treading carefully amongst the loose stone and soil. After almost an hour, they finally reached the flat platform where the copse of trees was spread out in the shape of a large arrow. Being able to see actual living trees in this barren wasteland seemed like an absolute miracle. They walked deeper into the small woodland when something caught her eye. Cassandra made her way towards a patch of earth that looked darker than the rest and crouched in front of it. She picked up a fallen branch nearby and started to dig.

"What are you doing?" Newt asked as he and the others came up behind her.

"I remember somethin' about finding water in a desert and…" she started before concentrating on shovelling the soft soil with her meagre stick. "Hey, someone help me out here?"

Minho and Newt exchanged confused glances before bending down and grabbing a stick each to help her. After a few minutes, they had managed to dig a deep enough hole and water started to seep into the small crater.

"Would you look at that…" Frypan said out loud in amazement.

"I think we should boil it before drinking though," Cassandra said.

"No biggie, I came prepared," the Cook grinned as he dropped himself next to her and pulled a container from his bag pack. Minho helped her to build a small fire and they all gathered around for a break.

Newt forced fed her some more food and she felt grateful to have friends that looked out for her. She would have neglected to pay herself any attention until she collapsed if she was left on her own devices. Soon, the final remnants of the day faded beneath the thin horizon and twilight replaced the glow above them.

A persistent feeling of dread kept nagging at the back of her mind but she had no idea what to make of it. Jorge had told them that they were close to their destination now. They only had another small ridge to cross and they would come out on the other side of the mountains.

She turned on her side and peered through the shadows at Minho sleeping peacefully on her left. He had a small frown across his brows; his hair was matted with dried blood and grease, burn marks still decorating his cheek. Cassandra thought back to that time when he had caught himself on fire from a lightning bolt. That had only been about a week ago, but it felt like ages had passed since then. Had his wounds healed by now? He never seemed to show any pain from them.

He shifted in his sleep and she took the opportunity to slip under his arm and bury her face in his shirt. His arm curled around her small frame as if on instinct and she smiled despite herself. She was just about to drift off to sleep when she heard it again.

" _Cass?_ "

Cassandra opened her eyes and slowly untangled herself from Minho, sitting up to look around.

" _Teresa?_ " she called tentatively.

" _I need your help_ ," the voice continued to whisper. It was so soft but somehow she was able to tell which direction it was coming from.

She stood up slowly, careful not to make a sound, and quickly walked deeper into the woods. The pale moon above offered enough light for her to make her way through the meandering trunks without tripping over the gnarled roots. Teresa's voice continued to call to her like a beacon, becoming a little bit clearer with every few steps she took.

Finally, Cassandra reached a break in the trees that opened out to a small clearing. Beyond the brambles and small rocks that littered the open ground was a cave that opened up at the side of the mountain wall. A figure stood in front of its entrance, hair billowing about her face in the light breeze.

But it wasn't Teresa as she had first assumed. The girl that stood in front of her was taller with a willowy frame. She had voluminous red hair that flowed like wild fire over her shoulders and crystalline green eyes the colour of tourmaline. Her pale white skin seemed to glow underneath the moonlight, making her look like an apparition. A hand beckoned for her to come closer and Cassandra felt her insides twist nervously.

She didn't know how she knew, but she did.

It was Rachel.


	36. POLYIDUS

**ACT II SCENE XXXVI  
POLYIDUS**

* * *

 **QUESTIONS STARTED TO FORM** in her head and streamed from her consciousness like a gushing stream. Cassandra quickly made her way towards the other girl who continued to look at her with those piercing green eyes. In more ways than one, she reminded her of Teresa with the way she held herself. There was an inner confidence that she exuded.

"I know you," she breathed out when she was close enough. "How?"

Rachel shook her head. "I guess it's residual memory."

"Aris said you died," Cassandra looked at the girl in front of her as if she was a ghost. "He told us that Beth stabbed you with a knife."

The redhead frowned in apparent confusion. "I remember that happening… but WICKED managed to save me somehow. I woke up just a couple of days ago and they told me that it wasn't my time yet. They sent me here, told me to wait for you."

"Wait for me?" Cassandra's perplexed expression mirrored the girl's.

"They said you had the key," Rachel gestured to the cave entrance behind her.

She took a step to the side so that Cassandra could see what lied behind her. There was a door that glowed with an eerie green shine that she had failed to notice before, thinking that it was just a trick of the light somehow. Both girls exchanged apprehensive glances with one another.

Cassandra licked her dried and cracked lips. "Did they… happen to mention what was behind the creepy glowing door?"

Rachel shook her head. "They only told me what I needed to know, so I assumed you'd know what to do."

"Well, I'm just as clueless as you are," she mumbled unhappily.

"I don't want to sound like a crazy person," Rachel reached out and held onto her arm. "But if we don't find a way to get inside that thing, they'll kill Aris… and maybe Minho too. I…"

Her eyes grew wide when she heard what the girl had to say. Threatening the lives of the people most important to them did sound like something WICKED would do. Cassandra clenched her jaw as she turned back to the glowing door and bit her bottom lip. She could taste blood from a small tear beneath her teeth. It didn't seem like either of them had a choice.

"Okay… um…" she tried to rack her brain for anything that could be useful. "Did they say anything else to you? What's the key supposed to look like? Maybe it's a code?"

"They said it was a prophecy," Rachel told her. "She who had the ability of foresight but no one would believe."

"Yeah, that sounds like something they'd say too," she responded before gasping. "Prophecy…"

Cassandra patted around her pants for the correct pocket before pulling out the capsule that she had forgotten about until that very moment. So this was what it was supposed to be for. She turned the capsule around between her fingers before looking up with a raised eyebrow.

"How is this a key anyway?" she asked.

Rachel shrugged. "Maybe there's a bar code or something. Look, there's a scanner beside the door."

She strained her eyes through the dark and found the little box that Rachel was referring to. Taking a step closer, she took a deep breath as she stood in front of the door with the capsule gripped tightly in her hand.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she said, glancing back at the other girl. "What if there's a monster behind those doors? Or some kinda mutated Crank cannibal that's waiting to eat us?"

"Then I'll do it myself. I can't let Aris die," Rachel shook her head. "He's my best friend, he's been through too much."

Cassandra lowered her gaze to the ground. "If what you say is true, then I guess neither of us has a choice…"

She took a deep breath before steeling herself and raising her hand with the capsule towards the scanner. There was a brief pause as the machine detected the row of letters that made up the word PROPHESI on the capsule's surface. Then there was a beep as the red light on the scanner turned green. A hiss resounded next to her as the lock on the door disengaged and tendrils of steam seeped through the widening crack.

Cassandra took a step back as it opened fully to reveal a large cavern of emptiness. Her heart started to beat hard against her chest as she drew her knife in anticipation of something to come charging out of that pit of black shadows. Cold air blew against her face from the opening as if she had just opened the gate to the underworld itself.

"I don't think… there's anything inside," Rachel whispered next to her, voice filled with apprehension. "Wait, what's that?"

There was the sound of mechanical whirring, as if someone had just switched on a power source. Another green glow lit up from the very back of the cavern, illuminating what seemed to be a large room. The light was coming from a lone computer terminal, exactly like the one that was meant to input the code words back in the Maze underneath the Griever Hole.

She groaned in exasperation. "Not another damn word puzzle."

"Should we…" Rachel started hesitantly. "Check it out?"

Cassandra picked up a rock from the ground and threw it into dark room. It clicked twice across the floor with a hollow echo. It seemed like the entire room was built inside the cave with reinforced metal on every side. Straining her eyes again, she could see squares lining every inch of its surface with small protrusions along every grid that ended in black holes. She eyed them dubiously and took a step closer to peek inside.

After making sure that the coast was definitely clear, she rolled a larger rock to place it by the entrance. Hopefully it would stop the door from closing fully, if it did decide to do that. Rachel went in after her, following carefully with fearful wide eyes.

"There's something on the computer," she pointed with another whisper.

Cassandra walked closer towards the terminal and cocked her head to the side. There was a keypad built into it and the screen was completely blank. Next to the keypad were a switch and hole that looked like a socket for something.

"The key," Rachel urged. "There must be something inside it?"

Cassandra started to examined the capsule again, finding a thin crack midway through its length. She tried to pull it apart but it was stuck shut, until she found a tiny circle around the top. She pressed on it and there was an audible click as the capsule popped into two sections. One end of it had the shape identical to the pattern of the socket on the computer terminal so she carefully inserted it inside.

There was a series of beeps from the computer and code started to run itself across the screen. She stared in awed mesmerisation as the program booted itself back to life, thousands of letters flashing across the screen too quickly for her eyes to catch any decipherable meaning from them.

Then everything stopped and she was prompted to press the enter key. She wondered what this entire thing was all about when she reached up with her finger and pressed the function on the keypad. The green glow was suddenly replaced with blue and four words flashed across the screen in large black capitals.

Cassandra felt her heart race and she couldn't stop the gasp from her throat as she stared at the single familiar sentence in front of her. It felt like the whole world was disintegrating around her and icy cold fear rooted her immobile. She swallowed, eyes darting across the screen again and again, but she couldn't believe what she was seeing. She didn't want to believe it. They were the exact same words that had ben haunting her for so long, since that rainy night in the Glade.

 **YOU WERE A MISTAKE.**

Then she felt a sharp tug at the back of her head as someone pulled her hair back.


	37. TROJAN WOMEN

**ACT II SCENE XXXVII  
TROJAN WOMEN**

* * *

 **A STRANGLED CRY ESCAPED** her throat as she stumbled backwards, face scrunching up in pain as the claws pulled harder on her hair and scalp. Cassandra started to curse out loud as she flailed her arms, trying to find whomever it was that held her and beat the crap out of them.

"Ssh," Rachel whispered into her ear. "What would Minho say if he heard you?"

"He'd be shucking proud of me," Cassandra scowled as she managed to find some leeway for her to jerk her elbow into the girl's abdomen.

The redhead grunted out in surprise, staggering a couple of steps backwards from the blow. Cassandra managed to grab hold of the girl's arm and twist it until the grip on her hair loosened before quickly backing away.

"Oh, no, you don't," Rachel growled and a moment later, Cassandra felt something swipe at her ankles.

She fell to the hard ground, causing her head to rattle and cutting her arm along a sharp edge of a protrusion. Blood immediately started to flow freely and drip across the silver of the metal floor. Rachel grabbed a fistful of her dark hair once more and she felt something prick her neck.

"Shuck-" she winced as her head immediately started to feel light and her body fell limp. She was still conscious though as her eyes darted back and forth in barely concealed panic.

Rachel threw her down to the ground and all Cassandra could see was the dull floor. She felt the reverberations from Rachel's footsteps against her cheek as the other girl walked about the room. The sound of metal scraping against metal filled her ears like an executioner sharpening his axe. Then she was roughly grabbed by the front of her shirt and slammed against the wall. Rachel was holding her knife against her throat, and she held her breath unintentionally.

"Good, it looks like the drug worked," the girl nodded before withdrawing the blade.

Cassandra allowed herself to breathe again but she still couldn't move any part of her body. The only thing she was able to do was blink, breathe and open her mouth. It seemed that whatever drug she had been injected with, it only took away all movement below the neck.

"What the hell is this?" she asked shakily.

"Aw, are you trying to be brave?" Rachel gave her a mocking smile.

Then it suddenly clicked and Cassandra gasped as the realisation finally sunk in and saturated every fibre of her being. She should have recognised her voice sooner but she had been acting so naturally that it had her completely fooled. Even her facial expressions had been perfectly manipulated with fear and confusion. Everything had been a meticulously choreographed act and she fell right into the palm of their hands. She cursed herself for being so trusting, if only she had half the cynicism that Minho usually had.

Rachel had been the mysterious voice in her head the entire time. The poisoned snake that haunted her waking moments with deadly whispers of unjustifiable retribution.

"Damn it," she inhaled sharply with laboured breaths as she tried to force her limbs to move through sheer willpower alone. "Ugh!" she cried loudly in frustration and strained effort.

"Don't waste your energy," Rachel told her with a bemused smirk. "You're not going anywhere just yet."

A cruel laugh rang from her lips as the redhead sat down in front of Cassandra. She played with the knife in her hands with an expression of smug gratification.

"What do you want from me?" Cassandra asked, finally giving up on her attempts of moving her body and hoping to rely on persuasion instead.

"What anyone else in my position would want," Rachel responded. "Revenge."

"I don't even know what I did to you," she retorted incredulously. "I don't even remember having spoken to you before."

"You should have died instead of him," the other girl sneered. "What makes you anymore special than he is? The both of you were the same."

She recognised those words as well and Cassandra leaned her head against the wall in mounting irritation. "So you keep saying, but what the shuck does any of it mean?!"

"You don't even remember him," Rachel said derisively before grabbing hold of her hair again. The knife returned to her throat and she felt its sharp edge dig dangerously into her skin. "He was my entire world and you took him away from me. _Helenus_. Do you remember now?"

"Who the hell-" she cried out when a hand struck her across the face. She let out a breath from the shock of the impact. Rachel threw her back down onto the floor and kicked her hard in the gut. She cried out in pain, suppressing the urge to retch as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Rachel lashed out again, hitting every inch of her body as she laid helplessly under the crazy girl's mercy. Cassandra winced at every blow, feeling her skin already starting to bruise. She had absolutely no control over what was happening to her; the only thing she was capable of doing was to concentrate on her rapidly shallow breathing while pain sizzled through her nerves.

"I watched as you pushed him," the girl hissed. "Telling him that he could do it, trying to keep up with you. And in the end, he died."

She sent another blow against her side, right in a tender spot that made Cassandra cry out sharply.

"You deserve to die too!" Rachel screamed, her shrill voice bouncing off the walls. "But not like this… no."

If she could, she would have curled herself into a tight ball and shrivel away under the girl's fury. But all she could do was lie there and take every single hit aimed her way with gritted teeth. Rachel grabbed her hand and laid her palm flat against the cold floor.

"I want you to beg for your life," she said. "Then I want you to suffer what I felt to watch the person you love the most die in front of your very eyes."

She drove the knife straight through the middle of her hand and Cassandra screamed as her flesh tore apart. Tears finally leaked out from her eyes at the excruciating pain and black spots erupted in her vision.

"Scream for him," Rachel said, her voice taking on a sinister tone. "Let him hear you."

The girl twisted the knife in her hand and she wailed in agony.

"Where's Minho now, Cassie?" Rachel mocked with childlike curiosity. "Where's your prince to save you now?"

She pulled the knife out and drove it back into her hand. Aching sobs started to fill the room and it took Cassandra a moment to realise that they were coming from her.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she yelled angrily in between whimpers of pain and gasps of air.

"Of course you don't," Rachel scowled deeply. "It doesn't matter if you do. Just as long as I get what I want. Now scream."

She ran the blade of the knife against her exposed arm, drawing a deep cut along her skin. Cassandra sobbed despite herself, but all she could feel was the stinging sensation on every inch of her skin. Her breathing was deep and ragged, wishing she could just fall unconscious right then so she couldn't give Rachel any more satisfaction.

Her nerves were ablaze with pain coursing through her entire system. She still couldn't move a muscle save for her head and it was taking all her concentration to just focus on breathing. It had only ben a day before when she decided to give up, but not like this. She wanted to see Minho one last time.

Rachel picked her up again and she saw an eerie smile plastered across the girl's face. Cassandra felt herself tremble with dread as the girl chuckled deeply. Then her head was roughly turned to the side, where she could see through the opening of the room into the dark woods that stretched out beyond. The moon's shine casted a ghostly pale quality on the dark pinewood and green needles, giving them a silvery gleam.

Then she noticed it, a figure approaching them at a fast sprint. She recognised him by the way he moved alone and her heart ached with fear. _No_ , she sobbed quietly. She hoped that if she tried hard enough, she could shout into his mind to warn him but she knew it was hopeless.

"Don't, stay ba-"

"Shut up," Rachel growled, bringing the blade to return to her throat. She felt it nick her skin as she swallowed and more tears streamed down her cheeks in rivulets.

The frantic footsteps drew closer until they stopped right at the threshold of the door. Cassandra opened her eyes and felt like her entire world was about to end when she saw him panting in front of her, his chest heaving with effort.

Minho raised his hands in a display of surrender and took a step inside the room. His foot kicked the rock she had placed by the door inside and it closed shut behind him, enveloping them in complete darkness.


	38. PHOENICIAN WOMEN

**ACT II SCENE XXXVIII  
PHOENICIAN WOMEN**

* * *

 **THE GREEN GLOW CAME BACK,** illuminating the room with a sickly radioactive atmosphere. She could feel the blood running down her arm and hand, sticky liquid staining her clothes and the floor beneath. Minho's eyes glanced at her injury, then to the blade pressed against her neck and finally to the culprit that was the cause of it all. The muscle in his jaw twitched angrily as he concentrated his searing glare at the redhead.

Cassandra was afraid to speak, her sharp shuddering breaths suddenly the only sound in the entire room. Anxiety and horror filled her to the brim and if her muscles could contract, they would be wound tightly as a coiled spring. Rachel stared at the boy in front of her, as if waiting for him to make the first move. Her piercing gaze followed him as he shuffled from the door to the opposite wall.

"Let her go," he finally said.

Rachel merely laughed at him. "I'm rather comfortable where I am," she smirked, clearly enjoying the upper hand she had on the both of them. "Now get on your knees."

Minho frowned sceptically and Rachel yanked on her hair again, earning a hiss of pain from Cassandra, while pressing the blade closer to her throat. She imagined several red lines decorating her skin there.

"Stop!" he yelled in panic.

She could see his throat bob up and down as he swallowed, before slowly lowering himself to kneel on the floor. More tears leaked from her eyes as she watched in continued dismay.

"Good," Rachel smiled. "Now take the knife from your belt."

"Please stop," Cassandra breathed out.

"Shut up," she hissed acidly. "I don't have all day, now hurry up."

His hand reached behind him hesitantly and he drew the knife from the back of his pants. The silver blade gleamed hungrily as it revealed itself. Minho looked down at it before turning his eyes back to the girl.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked icily.

"Don't you want to know?" she scoffed. "Why don't you tell him, Cassie? Tell him what you did."

"I didn't do anything, you crazy shank," Cassandra spat; injecting all the resentment she could muster into her voice.

She felt the knife slice a clean line across her chest and she inhaled sharply at the fresh wave of pain. Minho called her name urgently, his body jerking towards her instinctively and the blade returned to her throat once more.

"Uh-uh-uh," Rachel tutted. "I wouldn't do that if I were you… unless you want to have your girlfriend's pretty throat slit."

"Who the shuck are you even supposed to be?" he demanded furiously.

"She's Rachel," Cassandra grunted. "Aris' partner."

"That explains a lot," he muttered snidely. "And what the hell is going on?"

"She thinks I killed her ex boyfriend," she explained in a strained voice.

"You _did_ , you pathetic little stick," Rachel seethed.

"How do you know that?" Minho asked quickly.

"They gave me back my memories. All of it. I remember _everything_."

"Yeah? And you believe those shucks? They could be implanting false memories in your head," he said. Cassandra could see that he was trying to stall for time, his eyes trained carefully for an opportunity to act.

"Sounds like something desperate people would say," Rachel responded calmly.

"You're an idiot to believe them," he told her plainly.

"WICKED is good," she stated firmly, then pricked Cassandra's neck with the tip of the blade, drawing a bead of blood. "Now shut up and put that knife to your throat."

"Stop it!" Cassandra tried to plead but it was no use. Rachel was hell-bent on destroying them, whatever it took, whatever the reason.

"Put that knife to your throat," Rachel repeated. "Or I'll kill her. What's it going to be, Minho? Your life or hers?"

His eyebrows furrowed into a tight knot as he slowly lifted the knife upwards. Cassandra shrieked helplessly, trying to will herself to move her body. She felt utterly pathetic in her position, unable to do a single damn thing except to cry and scream while a crazy person asked the person she loved to kill himself. Minho looked at her with a pained expression, his hands tied as long as Rachel still had the blade pressed against her throat.

She sobbed, managing to shake her head weakly as large tears rolled down the tip of her nose. Her tongue could taste the salt that stained her face and she wanted desperately to do something. Anything.

"Don't do it," she begged. "Don't give her the satisfaction, Minho. She's going to kill me anyway."

"Shut up," Rachel growled, pulling at the ends of her hair roughly.

"Stop hurting her!" he yelled angrily.

Cassandra winced but continued to plough through the pain. "Save yourself," she whispered. "Go while you still have the chance."

"You know I can't do that, Cassie," he said quietly.

She sniffled. "You have to. Minho, please."

"Aw, look at you two," Rachel mocked with a sickeningly sweet voice. "Tell you what, I promise to let one of you go if the other dies. How about that?"

"Minho, don't you even dare think about it," she warned. "I'm going to die anyway, I'm sick."

"That is true," the other girl nodded with false sympathy. "She'll turn into a Crank anyway. But will you be able to live with the fact that you let her die to save yourself?"

"Don't shucking listen to her!" Cassandra cried harshly.

Throughout the entire time they had been persuading him in both ways, his eyes never left hers. They softened as she breathed heavily, listening to the erratic beat of her own heart as it threatened to explode in her chest. Then she felt it almost come to an abrupt stop when he lifted the knife to his own neck. She shook her head, eyes widening with fear.

"No… no, no, no," she started in panic. "Minho, don't. Stop it. No."

"I don't want her to hurt you anymore," he said.

"How brave," Rachel tittered.

"Please don't do this," Cassandra whispered desperately.

"Cassie, remember what I told you," he said as the blade went dangerously closer to his skin. "Remember that I l-"

"No!" she screamed. "Please! Please stop!"

"Just get on with it already," Rachel said boredly.

Cassandra sobbed with large gasping breaths. "I beg you, don't do this. Minho, please."

She watched in horror as the tip of the blade pricked his neck and blood pooled around its edge. It felt like nothing mattered anymore, she would end the very second he did. There was no such thing as being spared; they would both die if the other did. Rachel would have her revenge without even trying.

Then a sharp gasp erupted behind her and a voice sputtered close to her ear. Cassandra felt the grip on the hair become slack and the knife against her neck wavered slightly. Rachel grabbed at her own throat, as she seemed to suffocate on the very air itself. It was hauntingly familiar- she vaguely remembered watching it happen before and experiencing it for herself.

"No, it isn't my time-" the girl rasped. "I won't-"

Minho's eyes widened as he finally found the chance he'd been waiting for. He quickly lunged forwards, knife clenched tightly in his hand as he raised it above his head. Cassandra gasped, then felt something tearing at the same time as Minho plunged the knife into Rachel's chest.

She fell to the floor again, liquid suddenly filling her throat as she tried to take a breath. Blood, so much of it, everywhere, its coppery scent overtaking her senses. Minho yelling, his hands stained, holding her, covering her as if she was spilling all over the floor.

Then the pain, searing and hot and _wet_ , as her head spun with confusion.

Everything happening too quickly.

Nothing making sense.

Rachel lying on the floor, unblinking.

Minho crying, tears falling from his eyes.

She made a sound, a kind of gurgle in place of words, and it reminded her of the time back in the tunnel with the metal balls that tried to eat their heads. Frankie lying on the ground, thrashing before lying still and her hands passing through nothing. Finally, she understood what was happening and she choked on a sob that was trapped in her chest.

His arms held her tightly, trying in vain to keep her together as the life drained from the remnants of her ripped body.

The eerie green glow made everything look distorted, or was it just her vision blurring?

Minho, she thought, wishing she could call his name and touch him. She wanted to tell him that everything would be okay, that he'd get through it. His voice sounded distant even though he was right beside her, trembling with sorrow. There was a hiss, tufts of smoke filling the chamber they were in, and her eyes slid close.

She wished she could kiss him again, to feel his lips on hers one last time.

Darkness, like a soft blanket.

The pain fading away to a distant memory.

Blood.

The smell of gas, reminding her of aerosol and hospitals.

Her body feeling light. Buoyant.

Sleepy. Her mind slipping from consciousness.

She was so tired.

Minho.

Falling.

The dark abyss.

Tired.

 _Minho…_

 _I lo…_


	39. IPHIGENIA IN AULIS

**ACT II SCENE XXXIX  
** **IPHIGENIA IN AULIS**

* * *

 ** _THEY WERE BACK_** _in the WICKED compound. She guessed they were around thirteen or fourteen, about a year after they had been picked up by the organization. It was probably around the same time after they had announced the advent of the Maze Trials. Cassandra watched her younger self snuggle close to younger Minho's side on the bed opposite the open window. She had always liked the cold back then, despite the fact that they lived on a mountain in the middle of nowhere._

 _Minho wrapped the covers around them tightly, shivering slightly from the cool draft. Her arms slid around his middle, holding him tightly and leaching his warmth._

 _"If you could choose only one thing," he started, playing with a lock of her hair. "What would you bring back from the old civilization?"_

 _"TV," she replied without hesitation._

 _"Are you serious?" he looked at her with a raised eyebrow._

 _"I miss watching my shows," she sniffed sadly._

 _"You're impossible," he shook his head but there was an amused grin on his face._

 _"What about you?" she asked._

 _"My Nintendo," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world._

 _She rolled her eyes. "Of course. How could I forget?"_

 _"I miss pop tarts too," he sighed. "At least we still have pizza."_

 _"Life isn't worth living without pizza," she agreed._

 _"This is why we get along so well."_

 _There was a comfortable lull as they listened to each other's quiet breathing. Her head leaned against his chest, an arm wrapped around her back. There wasn't much they could do stuck in the facility when curfew rolled about. At least they had each other, Cassandra had threatened to bury herself in the snow if they didn't let them bunk together._

 _He stroked her hair gently and her eyes closed briefly._

 _"I like you a lot, Cassie."_

 _"I like me a lot too."_

 _He launched an onslaught of tickles across her sides and she jerked, squealing loudly with laughter. Of course, leave it to Minho to aim at her weakest spots. She kicked her legs about as he pinned her against the bed, eyes filled with triumph as he smirked widely down at her._

 _"I surrender!" she declared breathlessly and he stopped._

 _"I was being serious, Cassie," he told her, his expression smoothing over to prove his point._

 _She looked up at him and smiled. "You already know that I like you too."_

 _"I don't mean it in a friend way," he went on._

 _"I don't mean it in a friend way either."_

 _She could never imagine a universe without him._

* * *

 _The boy in front of her was frail with dark shadows under his eyes- a result of too many days without sleep. She had no idea how long either of them had gone without a decent amount of rest; they both had to go through the same experiments. Once a week, they would be allowed to see each other. She guessed it was to keep them from going completely insane, not like it was really helping much._

 _Helenus sighed and leaned his head against the wall behind him. They didn't seat on the chairs anymore, ever since they figured out that they were being watched through the two-way mirrors. Though they guessed there were cameras watching them too, they felt a little bit more secure huddling in the corner and imagining that they were out of sight._

 _"What do you miss the most?" he asked her quietly._

 _She was quiet for a long moment, even though she already knew what her answer was going to be._

 _"I miss Minho," she told him._

 _"Your best friend, right?" he asked. "You're lucky… that you have someone to miss."_

 _"You don't?" she looked up at him with furrowed brows, concern seeping into her voice._

 _"I miss my family, my brother," he smiled. "But I met this girl and we were really close. You'd like her; she's a real spitfire. She even has the hair to match."_

 _She laughed at his description. "What's her name?"_

 _"Rachel."_

* * *

She remembered people used to say that their lives would flash in front of their eyes right before they died. It was curious that her memories kept coming back to her in pieces of random moments. Cassandra knew she was dying- or maybe she was already dead- but her brain must have wanted to make sure she relived these moments for whatever subconscious reason.

 _They were back on the road, running and scavenging for their lives. It was familiar, something that she could relate to in the present. Minho was lying on the ground fast asleep and she had taken up first watch. The spectacled boy- Nick- she guessed it must be him, got up and walked towards her. For some reason, she still couldn't remember their names before WICKED took them away._

 _He dropped himself on the ground next to her with a heavy sigh and she glanced at him briefly._

 _"Can't sleep?" she asked._

 _"I keep thinking about my family," he told her. "My parents got swept away by the flood but my brother… we lost him before that."_

 _"You think he could still be out there?"_

 _"I hope so..." he said quietly. "I hope he's out there somewhere."_

 _"It's just the two of us," she told him, gesturing towards the boy behind them. "And I guess we have you now. Lucky us."_

 _He nudged her side jokingly and she grinned._

 _"Do you think things happen for a reason?" he asked._

 _"Like fate? Destiny?" she raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. Seems too random to be real."_

 _"Guess it's just better to call it coincidence, huh?"_

 _"I like the sound of it better," she nodded before looking back at him. "You should get some sleep. Got a big day tomorrow. Salvation could be right around the corner."_

 _"I'm not sure if that's a good thing," he frowned._

 _"It's a good thing," she waved a hand. "Beats being out here with the crazies anyway."_

* * *

She remembered listening to Greek mythology as bedtime stories because her father used to be obsessed with them. There was one in particular from the Synopsium written by the philosopher Plato. He told about the origin of humans who were made with four arms, four legs, half male and female. Men were children of the sun, women were children of the earth but the Androgynous were children of the moon, which was born of the sun and earth.

According to the old tale, humans held great strength at the time and threatened to conquer the Gods. But Zeus, the King of all the Gods, didn't want to lose the offerings that the humans gave to him by destroying them, so he came up with an ingenious plan. He split the humans into two parts as their punishment while doubling their number at the same time.

The split humans moaned in absolute misery, refusing to eat, so that Apollo, the God of Healing, had to sew them back together. He restored their bodies, leaving the navel as the only remnant of their original form. Because of this, humans would forever long to find their other half, their other soul. When they did, there would be unspoken understanding between them, a bond of unification, and they would lie with each other knowing no greater joy than that.

For Cassandra, she was lucky.

She had already found her other half.


	40. IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS

**ACT II SCENE XL  
IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS**

* * *

 **CASSANDRA DIDN'T THINK** she had missed the Glade that much when she found herself back there. Granted, she was a ghost wandering lost amongst them as the boys ran around doing their work. It was so familiar, and it felt like home. She could see Newt in the distance, his blonde hair sparkling underneath the warm sun, as he bent over a square of potatoes. He was laughing at something Ed had said.

On the other side, she could see Gally fixing up the door to the Homestead. His eyebrows furrowed with concentration as he hammered away at the hinges. The furious knocks of the dense metal against the head of the nail seemed to echo throughout the entire field. She missed the sight of green after just two weeks spent in a boundless desert. The cool breeze bringing the smell of chlorophyll and earth was calming, sweet.

Minho wasn't around, not even in the kitchen where Frypan was prepping his infamous bacon. The med-bay was empty as well, save for Clint and Jeff, who weirdly enough greeted her when they saw her before going back to arranging the medical supplies. That was really weird. She remembered her one time acting as Med-jack and all the boys had somehow managed to get injuries on the same day. They'd grumble whenever Clint was the one to tend to them since she was helping Jeff.

She guessed that Minho must be in the Maze, and she yearned to run those empty endless corridors with him again. Maybe she would meet him halfway. She was about to head in the direction of their usual Door when she spotted someone waving to her from the Gardens. Cassandra cocked her head to the side, squinting to focus her vision, then frowned when she recognised his familiar figure.

"Hey, dumb shank!" Thomas cupped his hands over his mouth and hollered.

"Oh, he didn't," she gasped and sprinted in his direction.

He grinned widely to greet her, faltering when he realised that she wasn't slowing down her pace. The boy started to back away nervously when she came flying towards him, slamming against his chest and sending them toppling to the ground.

"What the hell, Cass…" he groaned, face scrunched up in apparent pain.

"That's for calling me a dumb shank," she told him, picking herself up. "And for generally existing."

Thomas rolled his eyes before accepting her outstretched hand to haul himself up with. He patted the dirt off his clothes before looking around the Glade, his eyes settling on her when he was done.

"You're the only one that can see me so far," he said.

"Are you dead too?" she arched an eyebrow. "Figures."

"How do you know you're dead?" he asked.

"This crazy girl slit my throat," she told him with a shrug. "I'd say I was pretty dead."

"Teresa smashed my head in before leaving me in a room to die," he responded.

"That's rough, buddy."

"I really hope the afterlife isn't this," he said drily. "Being stuck in the Glade with only you to talk to. Now I know what hell is really like."

"Hey, that's my line!" she exclaimed in outrage. He grinned at her before taking a seat on the bench behind them. She joined him and they watched the others milling about in companionable silence. There hadn't been a time where she could remember doing this with him back in the Glade. Half the time, she had spent resenting him for breathing the same air that she did. How the times have changed.

"I feel sorry for Minho," he said after a while.

"Why?" she frowned.

"I didn't leave anyone behind," he shrugged. "But you did. You left him. He must be really broken up about it."

"You left him behind too, and Newt," she pointed out.

"Not the same thing," he shook his head.

Cassandra sighed. "I guess you're right. He'll get over it, I know he will. Maybe not right away, or whenever, but he will. He's a survivor."

"You're being way too optimistic for the recently departed," he told her.

"Well, I don't see you breaking down on the grass with tears and snot streaming down your face!"

"Ew, I'm too classy for that," Thomas made a disapproving face and a poor attempt at flicking his hair.

"You're a shuck-face, that's what you are," she swatted the back of his head.

The all too familiar rumble of the Doors closing caught their attention and they looked up. Most of the Gladers had packed up their stuff, returning to the Homestead for dinner. Zart and Winston passed by and gave them a cheery wave before resuming their conversation. Newt wholly ignored them as he made his way to the rickety building.

"I've been wondering about that," Cassandra thought out loud. "It's really weird how some of them see us and others don't?"

"It's because the ones who can see us are dead too," Thomas replied, looking at her like she was stupid.

"Oh."

Then Minho ran past, sweat drenching his entire body as usual. He caught up to Newt and they started talking amongst each other. At least he didn't see them, which probably meant he was still in the land of the living. She continued to watch him until they ducked out of sight behind the shack that made up the kitchen.

"He's cute, I'll give you that," Thomas snickered beside her.

"You haven't seen his abs," she turned back to him with a lazy smirk. "Sculpted by the hands of God himself."

"You ruined it."

"I'm going to ruin your face," she threatened.

Suddenly, he stood up and there was a shocked expression marking his features. He turned back to her with wide eyes and she frowned at his more than usual unusual behaviour.

"What?" she snapped.

"It's not our time yet," he told her. "Well, it's not mine."

"Congratulations, you get to suffer a little longer," she said sweetly. "I'll just go and catch up with Ben then."

"No, wait-" he leaned forwards to grab her arm but his hand went right through her skin and bones. They stared in disbelief, their bodies locked with icy fear.

"I am freaking out right now," she stated.

"Cass," he frowned, looking at her earnestly. There was anxiety in his eyes now, replacing the easy nonchalance that they both held earlier. "I don't want to leave you here."

"Look after Minho for me," she smiled sadly. "Tell him…"

But in a blink of an eye, he was already gone and she was talking to thin air. The Glade was quiet now, all the boys had gone inside and she was the only one still left in the open. She sat there in the waning light, watching the empty field change colours until night settled overhead and shadows laid down in a heavy cover.

So many thoughts ran through her mind as she stayed there, most of them sending an aching feeling of regret through her chest. She hoped Thomas was okay and would catch up with the others. Was this just another dream that she was having? Had she just imagined Thomas being here or was it a part of their telepathic connection? A part of her wished it could be the latter, so that he…

A rustle startled her from her long reverie and she looked up, feeling her heart skipping a beat. Her lips formed his name before she was even aware of it and she called softly to him. Minho walked past in front of her before stopping, then turned to face her. Her eyes widened and a hand flew up to her mouth from shock. No, he shouldn't be able to see her.

And he hadn't. He merely twitched his nose, his eyes seeing right through her with a confused frown.

"Weird," he muttered. "I thought I..."

He turned around and started off in the direction of the Map Room. She watched him cross the field halfway, then his body went completely rigid as he stopped before turning back sharply. Recognition took root in his eyes and he ran back towards her. Cassandra gasped when his hands grabbed hold of hers as he fell to his knees at her feet and she stared down at him with wide-eyed incredulity.

"Cassie," his smile lit up his entire face.

And she felt the warmth of his fingertips on her skin, the contact making her hands burn with longing. She smelt copper in the air, the lingering traces of grass fading away as if she was waking from a dream. He stroked her cheek and there was a streak of crimson staining the places he touched.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and feeling his arms wrapped around her. The Glade melted into fragments of an indiscernible memory, and she felt the rush of cold air blowing against her face. Cassandra opened her eyes and saw a green haze that sharpened to the illuminated metal ceiling of the chamber. She could see the protrusions on its surface, where smoke had come out from the grid of little holes.

Someone brushed hair from her face and she looked to the side, blinking in a mild stupor.

Minho, dirty, scratched up, looking worse for wear, with tears and blood staining his handsome face. His eyes gazed down at her with immeasurable relief and happiness, a look that she had seen him wear countless of times before. But most of all, it was Minho and she could touch him again, call his name hoarsely, feel his lips on hers. The knowledge of that alone brought indescribable emotions rushing through her veins.

Then he whispered to her. "You're alive."


	41. ALEXANDROS

**ACT II SCENE XLI  
** **ALEXANDROS**

* * *

 **HIS HEART FELT LIKE** it was splitting into two, crumbling like ash between his fingers. Even being cut up by Grievers and Cranks was nothing compared to the agonising ache in his chest. Fear and panic mixed together like a potent poison in his veins, causing his entire body to shake uncontrollably. Minho never trembled; he would stare death in the face and tell him to back the shuck off.

But as his hands tried desperately to staunch the wound in Cassandra's throat, he would throw himself on the ground and grovel for death to spare her. He would go through the gates of the underworld and swim its rivers to get her back.

"No, no, no," he moaned, tears blurring his vision. "Please, stay with me. Please."

Her eyelids fluttered gently before closing heavily, all the colour from her face seeping out like washing watercolour off a canvas. He choked on a sob, taking in deep shuddering breaths as her body fell limp in his arms. Cassie, his Cassie, her name tumbled from his lips like a desperate prayer.

The hiss of smoke from the ceiling filled the chamber like a hundred rattling snakes waiting to devour them, whispering prophecies of their demise, as cold tendrils wrapped around their bodies with ghostly caresses. Were they going to gas them to death?

Was this their end?

Minho closed his eyes and bent down, encasing Cassandra with his entire body as if to protect her from the fumes. It smelled like rubbing alcohol, a surgically sterile kind of scent. For some reason, he imagined doctors waiting outside the doors ready to cut them open.

There was blood everywhere, dark crimson masked by the green glow from the door. The resultant combination made it look like Cassandra was bleeding pure golden ichor onto the floor. He remembered her telling him a story about it before, strange fragments of her memory that remained intact of immortal men. His eyelids drooped heavily as he continued to inhale the gas and he could hear her sweet voice in his ears as clear as the day he had first heard it.

" _We are children of lost gods.  
_ _And so the world will end  
_ _with bleeding gods.  
_ _Ichor flows as gold as stars."_

* * *

 _Something soft tickled his nose with light feathery touches and he frowned immediately at the intrusion. He held up a hand to swat it away but the annoying caress came back immediately after._

 _"Newt, shuck off," he growled angrily, eyes still shut tight with sleep, and turned onto his other side._

 _There was a gentle chuckle, her voice mellifluous to his ears. He felt her lean in close, the side of the bed dipping as she rested her elbows on it. Delicately thin fingers grasped his shoulder and the warmth from her skin radiated to his heart._

 _"But it's not Newt," she said with a playful tone. "It's your Cassie."_

 _A smile immediately spread itself across his face before he was even aware of it as he turned back around to face her. Cassandra's eyes sparkled in the golden morning sun that streamed through the open window and he felt like he was looking up at a divine being. She was so beautiful, her tanned skin glowing like incandescence. She had been so pale when she first came up, but running the Maze with him had given her a healthier complexion._

 _Minho felt his chest expanding as he took her into his arms, her face burying into the crook of his neck. She smelled like apples and petrichor, the feeling of home wrapped in his embrace. He pressed his lips against her hair before resting his head on hers. Her hands snuck up his shirt, dancing intricate patterns across his sides and it electrified his nerves like a storm. He inhaled deeply as her lips created new constellations across his throat and jaw line._

 _"Kiss me," she murmured and he complied, tangling her hair between his fingers as he cradled her head close._

 _His lips met hers with ineffable ecstasy and he poured his entire soul out with silent ardour. She was the only one who could strip him clean and bare, to show all his flaws and vulnerabilities with open gratitude. Because he knew he could trust her to touch him with compassion and wipe away his doubts. He was stronger naked in front of her than burdened with armour on a battlefield._

 _"Minho?" she parted to ask. "What happens if I die?"_

 _He gazed down at her solemnly, taking her hand and interlacing their fingers together. She always told him how much she loved that her hand fit his._

 _"I would die too," he told her quietly._

 _"You can't," she frowned sadly. "Promise you'll live for me."_

 _"How?" he whispered hoarsely, pulling her closer, painting her onto his memory._

 _She was quiet for a while, eyes downcast in thought, then she looked up at him._

 _"Forget me. Forget me as if I were a shooting star that disappears into the night."_

 _"But Cassie..." he said. "Shooting stars are hot and bright, and they sear into your eyelids and memory."_

 _"Then like rain staining the ground and drying up the next day," she went on._

 _"Rain makes things on the ground grow," he whispered back and tears started to fall from her eyes. "Cassie... I'll never forget you."_

 _He held her tighter but she was holding up her hands that were now stained in crimson blood. Her entire body trembled in his arms with silent sobs but he would never let go of her. Cassandra kissed him again with moist sadness and he felt like he was falling into the deepest of darkest abyss with the sweet taste of her lips._

* * *

 _She was like sun kissed fruit ripened to perfection, succulent and bursting with flavour that yearned to be devoured. Her white dress was a piece of blank paper that laid in wait for fingertips to etch stories of breathless laughter and summer dreams. He ran his hand through her dark locks as it cascaded over his legs with her head in his lap._

 _"I'm shucked for good now," he told her. "What's with all the dreams? Are you haunting me already?"_

 _"How do you know this is just a dream?" she smiled sweetly, and it made him feel like he was taking in the first breath of air after almost drowning._

 _"It's either a dream or we're both dead," he chuckled, gaze sweeping around the small clearing they were nestled in. A gushing stream next to them carried sparkling clear water from further uphill. All around them stood majestic redwoods that reached high into the sky, the tops of their boughs almost grazing the clouds that crowned them._

 _"Is this not real?" she reached up with a hand and trailed her fingertips across his cheek._

 _Minho couldn't help his amused smirk as she slowly pushed herself upright. She took his face in both hands and lightly brushed her lips against his. Her dark heavy lidded gaze must match his own because he could feel his heart quivering inside his chest. He wanted all of her, as selfish as it seemed, and there was nothing else he wanted more. She was his, and he was hers. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out._

 _Her lips sent a trail of fire blazing across his jaw line and he was soon lost in the rapture of her tongue. She was like an effervescence of zealous euphoria, a wildfire that consumed him whole. Minho wrapped his arms around her slim frame and laid her down on the grassy verdure. He was sure that he had lost his mind as he slipped his hands under her skirt. Cassandra panted heavily, her warm breath fanning his skin as she dug her nails into his back._

 _"Minho," she whispered and it sent a shiver down his spine. "You're the only one I ever want. Only you."_

 _"You're my everything, Cassie," he kissed her softly, like drizzle on a spring afternoon._

 _She smiled, her face lighting up like a beacon that would send a thousand ships sailing in her direction. If he was the sun and she was the moon, he would die every night to let her live._

 _"But you have to wake up, Minho," she leaned forwards to press her forehead against his. "You need to wake up now."_

 _"Will you be there?" his hands continued to roam her body._

 _"Of course I will," she breathed._

 _"I need you," he never wanted to stop touching her._

 _"I'm always with you," she kissed him._

And when he opened his eyes, the ichor had stopped flowing.


	42. CERCYON

**ACT II SCENE XLII  
CERCYON**

* * *

She blinked once. Then twice. Her mouth opened and closed in quiet disbelief while Minho watched her with a small smile tugging at his lips. Her eyes met his and when she finally grasped what had happened, she buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around him. She breathed him in- all musk and copper and Minho- then felt tears well in the corner of her eyes.

"I died," she breathed out. "I died and dreamt I was back in the Glade. But you couldn't see me because you were _alive_ and I wasn't."

He stroked her hair gently, fingers slipping through dark locks, and pressed his lips on the top of her head. Minho pulled her closer until she was flushed against him and she could feel the rhythmic movement of his breathing. Her hands wanted to touch every inch of him, craving to reacquaint themselves with his skin. She took his face between them and kissed him fervently, almost desperate in her urgency.

Minho. She whispered his name like devotion to a deity, as her tongue tasted his honeyed lips. Reuniting herself, skin and bones and nerve fibres and particles of her entire being, with his. His fingers tangled in her hair, breaths mingling, chests aching, with so much longing that it made her want to die again.

They parted grudgingly, and he leaned his forehead against hers with eyes closed. She could feel his eyelashes like soft feathers across her cheeks and she never wanted to let him go ever again. Doing so would be madness but even if her mind had gone, she knew she would still want him.

"Cassie," he whispered, eyelids fluttering open to look at her. She felt his knuckles caress her cheek. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she whispered back, stealing another kiss. The tears came unbidden, trailing down her face. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

He chuckled breathlessly. "Forever and ever."

"Till the end of time," she grinned weakly against his lips.

He held her close, basking in each other's warmth, until they were ready to face reality again. Then she stirred and looked over her shoulder, already dreading what she would find before her eyes laid on the lifeless body a couple of feet away from them. She shuddered inwardly, fingers tracing the cuts she had received only recently. But her skin met with smooth skin, and she couldn't feel the pain that had previously agonised her anymore.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," he replied. "There was this gas, it healed all your wounds. I was afraid she was gonna come back to life too but I guess magic can't heal a knife in the heart."

Her eyes moved to the blade that was still sticking out of the girl's chest and she bit her lip nervously. They'd killed Cranks without remorse or thought, but she didn't know whether Rachel had caught the Flare or not. The girl was certainly crazy enough to pass off as one of the denizens of the Scorch though.

"Were you… were you really gonna kill yourself back there?" she turned back to him.

He hesitated. "Yeah... I really thought I'd had to."

"Stupid," she smacked him lightly on the arm. "I told you not to."

"You were gonna let her kill you, Cassie," he pointed with a raised eyebrow. "No way I was gonna let that go down."

Cassandra bit her lip, knowing that she would probably have done the same if their positions had been changed. She reached up to press her hand against the red line marking the side of his neck. It had thin layer of scab over it but it would heal in no time.

"They killed her," she suddenly realised. "Before you stabbed her that is, they made her choke."

"Yeah," he murmured lowly. "She looked like she was having a major heart attack."

"They're sick," she spat with venomous disgust. "Everyone in WICKED… they don't care about us. We're just tools to them."

"I know," he looked around, then raised his voice. "I hope they shucking burn in hell."

"We should get out of here," she said and he nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, come on," he started to get up, helping her along as he did. "You okay?"

"I just want to get as far as I can from this place," she said, wincing slightly from the pins and needles shooting through her legs.

"Me too," Minho replied quietly as he led her out of the green room.

They re-emerged into the clearing and she took a deep breath, breathing in the cool night air. There was the faint scent of pine and dry desert earth. She couldn't believe that they were still alive and let out a breathless laugh. Minho turned to look at her questioningly.

"We did it," she said. "We survived."

"It's not over yet," he reminded her and her elated heart fell a little. He was right, there was still the remaining trek to the safe haven. Cassandra glanced down at her watch, its number illuminated faintly against the little black screen. It was seven minutes past five in the morning. The sun would be up in another hour and she didn't know how long the walk back to the others would take.

Minho seemed to have read her mind and took her hand. "Let's rest here for a little while."

She nodded eagerly and they crossed the clearing to the edge of the trees that lines it, not wanting to be too near the cave as if it would suck them back in. They settled against trunk of a large evergreen that cast a deep shadow along the ground. She fell asleep almost immediately in Minho's arms.

* * *

The sun peeked above the top of the cave just as the alarms on their watched beeped to wake them up. Her entire body felt heavy like lead and it took considerable effort to open her eyelids. They felt like they were glues shut with exhaustion but she was anxiously aware of everything around her at the same time.

"Minho," she murmured against his neck. "Minho… wake up."

He groaned faintly, his arms pulling her closer to his body. She could feel his muscles contract around her as he tried miserably to wake up as well. The events of the night before felt like a distant nightmare and the only thing she could think of right then was the other Gladers. They must be freaking out right about now when they found they were gone.

"We need to get back," she said, strength returning to her voice as she nuzzled against his jaw. "Newt and the others… they must be awake by now too."

"One more minute," he replied hoarsely with a small sigh. "Just one more minute, Cassie…"

She realised belatedly that Minho had been awake the entire time, maybe even before her. His eyes were alert and sad, and he held her so tightly that her sides were starting to hurt. But she didn't care; she'd let him squeeze the insides out of her because to Minho, last night was still fresh in his mind like a still open wound.

Her fingers curled over the fabric of his jacket and she buried her face in his chest. She wished they didn't have to go back, that everything would be over now, but it wasn't. Their journey hadn't ended yet and they didn't know what else was in store for them. She knew that must be what he was thinking about too and it sent a wave of anger mixed with hopelessness wash over her.

One minute turned into five until he finally eased his hold on her, turning her face up with a hand to peck her on the lips.

"Okay…" he said, despondency underlying his mellow tone. "Let's go."

It was her turn to not want to let go but she nodded her head reluctantly and they started to get up. The walk back to their little camp was wrought with tension as they held each other's hands tightly. She stopped when they were nearby and she could hear voices in the distance. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt something resembling fear attack her senses.

"Minho," she looked at him anxiously.

He turned to her and let go of her hand to take her face between his palms. The unease mirrored back in his eyes reflected his own. She didn't want to cross the valley and go through to the other side. What if more crazy waited for them on the other side?

"It's gonna be okay," Minho told her, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Okay?"

"I-I love you," she blurted out, feeling a lump form in her throat.

"I love you too," he said, voice strained with worry. "Whatever happens, we'll get through it together. I promise."

She nodded jerkily. "Together."

He leaned in and kissed her passionately, no holding back, just raw emotions coursing through their veins. She engraved it to her memory, her skin and muscles and bones. Just in case, heaven forbid, that it would be their last. Then a voice boomed out, bouncing across the splintering tree barks.

"Minho?!" Newt called. "Cass?! Where are you guys?!"

They pulled away, opening their eyes to gaze back at each other with confident resolve. She saw his jaw twitched as he clenched his teeth, dauntless determination taking over once more. The Leader, she mused. He was definitely made of the stuff, and she would follow him to the very ends of the earth.

"Race you?" he smirked and she grinned back.

"Deal."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Aw, guys, thank you for the sweet reviews on the last chapter! Minho and Cassie are back together again and they're gonna continue the journey to the safe haven. They're so close to meeting Group B and reuniting with Thomas and Teresa. It's gonna be so sentimental holy heck.

Each review will be given to the association of protect our characters from harm 2k16. xx


	43. PIRITHOUS

**ACT II SCENE XLIII**  
 **PIRITHOUS**

* * *

 **THEY TORE THROUGH** the line of trees, feet thudding noisily against the desiccated ground, and rejoined the others through the valley pass. Cassandra could see the figures of the Gladers through gaps between the brown trunks before breaking out into the clearing. Everyone turned towards them with relief and agitation. Newt rushed forwards the moment he laid eyes on them. Beads of sweat lined his face and trickled down the side of his forehead.

"Where the bloody hell have you two been?!" he exclaimed. "Almost gave us a shuckin' heart attack! We thought WICKED nabbed the both of ya or somethin'."

"It's a long story, man," Minho panted slightly, glancing to check on Cassandra as she looked at the blonde worriedly.

"Did something happen while we were away?" she asked with a pronounced frown.

"No," Newt waved a hand. "You two were the only ones missing when we woke up."

"Good," she exhaled with relief. She would never forgive WICKED if anything had happened to her friends as well.

"Where did you guys go?" he continued to ask, fixing his gaze on her. "What the shuck happened to your neck?!"

"Wha-" her hand instantly went to her throat, the previous ordeal flashing across her mind. "I…"

"We'll explain later," Minho interrupted. "C'mon, we need to get going."

"Oh, my God," somebody suddenly gasped and they turned at the same time to look at Brenda as she she skidded to a halt. "I-I thought…"

The girl faltered and her eyes widened when she saw Cassandra. Minho took a step forwards angrily but Cassandra beat him to it. She stalked towards Brenda, grabbing her arm and practically throwing the girl into the tree behind her. All the pent up anger and aggression suddenly flared inside her chest and she pinned the girl's throat with an arm against the sturdy trunk.

"You knew?" she hissed vehemently. "You knew this would happen?!"

"Cass!" Newt called but she yelled at him to back off.

Cassandra turned back to Brenda. "I almost died!" she shouted furiously. "What the hell are you playing at?!"

"I-I didn't know that would happen!" Brenda cried desperately. "All they told me was to get you here to this very spot but I didn't think it would be the same…"

"The same as what?!"

"The same as Thomas'."

Cassandra breathed heavily, eyes wide with resentful disbelief, as everything that had happened to her rushed through her mind like a film on fast forward. All the pain she had suffered, the confusion, the mistrustful stares and memory blackouts, almost dying in Minho's arms. A taut string broke apart inside her with a painful lash and she raised a hand to strike the girl but someone caught hold of her arm.

"That's enough!" Jorge said sternly as he pulled her away. "It's not her fault!"

"I should beat the both of you up!" she yelled, tears threatening to dot the inner corners of her eyes. "After all I've been through!"

"Cass, calm down," Newt went forwards to restrain her, looking between the both of them with blaring panic. "What are you talking about?"

"Remember Aris talkin' about the girl that got stabbed too?" Minho started. "The one that's supposed to be Thomas."

"Yeah…" the blonde raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"Well, she came back from the freaking dead," Minho sighed irritably. "Lured Cassie out to this shuck cave back there and started goin' crazy. She slit Cassie's throat, dude. She'd be dead if it weren't for this weird healing gas they sprayed on us. It was all a shuckin' set up, another one of their shuck Variables or whatever dumb klunk."

Newt seemed completely speechless, his jaw hanging open after Minho's brief explanation. Cassandra clenched her fists tightly at her side, nails digging crescents into the palm of her hands. Her face was twisted in a portrait of utter revulsion as she glared death down at the WICKED employees in front of her.

"So if Cassie wants to beat 'em up, I'm not gonna stop her," Minho went on. "In fact, I'll even help her."

Brenda shook her head obstinately. "I swear if I had known this would happen…"

"What?" Cassandra snapped bitterly. "You'd let someone else do the dirty work? You people are all the same. It doesn't matter if a few of us die along the way, just as long as you get what you want."

"I know what they do is terrible…" Brenda started. "But it's for the greater good, you used to know that…"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Cassandra snorted derisively. "I'm done here. Let's just get to the shucking safe haven. Probably just another cave with monsters."

With one last scornful look at them, she turned around and stormed off. Minho followed after, pausing to grab their stuff before yelling at the others to hurry up. No one dared to protest when the both of them looked like they were about to murder anything within their sights.

The morning dragged on, neither their temper nor the torrid heat relenting even the tiniest fraction. By the time the sun had reached its highest point in the sky at mid afternoon, they had finally arrived at the end of the pass. The canyon they had just traversed stopped abruptly down a high intervening ridge that led down into another dense crop of woods. The pine trees looked sickly and miserable, barely able to sustain themselves from the hidden reservoir underneath.

"We'll climb down, then take a break," Minho said, glancing briefly at the rest. "Be careful."

He started to descend the face of the hill first and Cassandra bit her lip, wishing that they had some rope. At least there were some plants and gnarled roots that would ease their downward climb somewhat. She sighed heavily before getting down at the edge of the incline and carefully digging her boot into a loose foothold below. Bracing herself, she let her legs bear most of her weight before slowly making her way after Minho.

Archie was the next to follow her down and the rest soon followed suit. She thought Newt was the last to clamber from the edge of the ridge as she squinted upwards, trying to shake the beads of sweat from her eyes. The sun overhead made her dizzy and she was afraid that she would suffer from vertigo. They had passed the mid point and Cassandra felt her arms starting to ache from the strenuous effort. She continued to tell herself that going down was still better than going up. There was no way she would have survived; she didn't have the upper body strength like Minho to achieve a feat like that.

Suddenly the boy's voice shouted happily from below. "I'm almost there! Hey, Cassie, nice view."

"If I let go right now, I think I could land on you," she replied sweetly.

He snickered. "Which part though?"

"The hardest part."

"You're both disgusting!" Archie yelled above her.

She was about to laugh when she heard Jorge shouting from further above, towards the top of their expedition. He didn't sound happy.

"There's a bunch of Cranks throwing rocks down at us from the top!" she just about heard him warn when a large piece of granite fell past Archie's ear.

"Cass, look out!" he yelped but it was too late as she watched the rock fall towards her face almost in slow motion. It smacked her right on the temple and she could literally see constellations exploding in her vision as pain shot through her skull, engulfing it in agony.

"Son of a shuck!" she cried out, gasping from the shock of the blow. Her fingers trembled as she continued to cling to the side of the hill. She felt thick warm blood streaming out of the wound and down the side of her face already. The liquid flowed past her eye and she had to close it, as she took deep shuddering breaths. "It hurts like a bleeding mother!"

"Cassie!" Minho called from further below. "Are you okay?!"

"No!" she yelled back and gritted teeth.

"Let go, I'll catch you!" he told her. "C'mon, Cassie!"

She felt her grip slip and her left bicep burned excruciatingly at finding itself the only support for her entire body. Minho yelled for her to let go again and she did, right after thinking that she was definitely going to die this time. She felt her body free falling; a sinking weightless sensation that was both liberating and terrifying.

Then she hit something solid, her back falling heavily into outstretched arms. Minho grunted a little under her weight, knees buckling slightly, before grinning down at her. She opened her one eye to look up at him with immense relief.

"Told you I'd catch you," he said smugly.

"Dude, make way!" Archie called before dropping down five meters from the ground on the balls of his feet right in front of them. "Ah, crap, they're climbing down after us."

She wiped the blood from her eye to look up with a squint, finding the Cranks scrambling over the edge of the top to chase after them. They kept shoving each other in their haste and insanity, causing a couple of them plummeting to the ground hundreds of feet below. She could hear the sickening crunch of bone breaking and winced in disgust. Minho finally put her down but she jumped back to him when one of the Cranks managed to push himself upright to snap his decaying teeth at them.

"Shucking hell, just die already," Minho complained as he stepped over to kick it hard in the jaw. It dislocated with another revolting sound and the boy shuddered as the Crank collapsed.

More Gladers joined them on the ground and Frypan started screaming threats out at the Cranks that continued to harass them. They were quick climbers, as if having the shadow of death looming over them spurred them to greater displays of human prowess.

"We should… probably run," Newt huffed when he finally made it down with Jorge.

"We were waitin' for ya," Minho said.

"And now that I'm here, we better run," the blonde repeated before making a dash for it into the trees.

"The faster we get away from here, the faster we can rest," Frypan shrugged.

"I think Newt just misses his Running days," Cassandra joked as she went after him with Minho right behind her.

They sprinted in a zigzag line through the trees that shrouded them overhead. The air felt cooler on the lower terrain and the canopy provided ample coverage from the sun. It made her head feel better despite the dull throb that continued to plague her.

"They're still coming after us!" Frypan shouted and she looked back. The Cranks were gaining on them with their unrelenting chase. She sniffed, catching the whiff of something heavy and acrid- an all too familiar smell that sent her stomach churning at the vague memories that stirred. Smoke. The Cranks had set the forest on fire.

"Um, don't panic but we're running in a box of matches," she said, turning back to the front.

"What?!" Newt exclaimed, his voice higher than usual.

Loud hoots of laughter and incessant screams followed from behind as the smoke gathered in the air like an oppressive cloud. It irritated their eyes and throats, making running a now arduous task. Then there was a break in the trees in front of them and they broke through the edge of the forest onto the other side of the mountain.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE :**

They're almost to the safe haven now, yay! Seriously, they need to stop getting hurt and just chill for a sec. Also, Cassie and Minho need to bathe in some holy water ngl. I can't wait for the mini reunion with Thomas and Teresa! My bbies!

Daily dose of mythology: Theseus and Pirithous tried to kidnap Persephone and were chained to a rock. When Heracles tried to free them, he left Theseus' butt behind and everyone called him the smooth butt dude. I love the Greeks.

Each review will be used to buy some iced tea for the Gladers cause man that stuff on a hot day is the bomb xx


	44. TEMENOS

**ACT II SCENE XLIV  
TEMENOS**

* * *

 **NEWT STOPPED AND BENT OVER,** panting heavily with his face scrunched up under the sun. Minho stopped next to him, taking in long deep breaths, and turned to look at Cassandra. Her head throbbed painfully as she slowed to an amble, the adrenaline in her veins finally running its course and phosphenes danced around in her vision from the glaring intensity of the sun. She felt her legs give in and she fell down to the ground with a grunt.

"Cassie!" Minho started and rushed forwards to her.

She groaned in agony. "Minho."

"Cass, what are you doing?" Archie ran by. "This isn't the time for a nap unless it's a dirt nap!"

"What's the difference?" she asked, voice slurred with exhaustion. "I''m done. It hurts too much."

"C'mon, I'll carry you," Minho offered and she looked at him guiltily.

"I'm kidding, I can still-" she attempted to push herself up but fell back heavily into his arms.

"Dude, they're still chasing us!" Frypan pointed into the valley just as Ed and a couple other Gladers fell on the ground around her.

They all turned to look at the same time as a stampede of crazed lunatics with snapping teeth, twisted limbs and broken faces charged towards them. Cassandra wanted to bury her face in her hands and scream. Then Brenda and Jorge caught up with their group, skidding to a halt right at the mouth of the valley.

Each of them held a metallic round object in one hand and a small trigger switch in the other. They looked up and nodded to one another before flinging the metal balls into the walls of cliffs on either side. They turned quickly and sprinted away, thumbs pressing down on the switches with deliberate alacrity.

A giant explosion erupted from the detonation, rocking the ground beneath their feet and immediately crumbling the ridge of cracked earth. The Cranks that had just reached the pass were instantly crushed underneath the rubble, their insane screams dying out one by one. A single stray Crank managed to escape the avalanche and hobbled towards them with deranged snarls.

Archie went over and punched him into the ground. They stared in shock as Brenda and Jorge collapsed onto the ground next to Cassandra.

"That was… unnecessarily dramatic," Minho commented drily.

"Saved us the trouble, didn't it?" Jorge responded, still trying to catch his breath.

Cassandra blinked. "You had bombs with you the entire time?!" she exclaimed in disbelief before wincing at the sharp stab through her skull at her own voice.

"They were for emergencies," Brenda insisted.

Minho dropped down carelessly next to Cassandra, resting his back against her side as he heaved a weary sigh. "Well, whatever, we're out of the woods now. Let's catch our breaths before continuing."

The Gladers gathered around to quench their thirsts and excited chatter broke out now that they were a lot closer to their destination. Archie stood up to scan their horizons in a slow circle, a hand over his keen hawk-like blue eyes. He started to point in a direction that led towards the highest cliff side of the mountain range with eddying grooves that clearly marked the remnants of a waterfall or river.

"There're people heading down from there," he told them. "And another group further west."

Everyone strained their eyes to catch sight of what he was talking about and Cassandra saw it only by the gradual movement of the black spots in the distance. It was obviously Group B on the other side of the basin, but who could possibly be coming down from the cliffs?

Her heart skipped a beat when she remembered her dream in the Glade with Thomas. It had to be him. He was safe, and hopefully Teresa was with him too. She really hoped that everything was fine between them again, and WICKED had just been playing another sick joke on them all.

"Hey, Cassie," Minho started and turned her around so she could face him. He brushed the matted hair away from her face and inspected the wound on her temple with gentle fingers. "It's just a small cut," he finally concluded before tearing a strip of cloth from his shirt. He poured some water on it to clean most of the blood that had gotten into her eye.

"We both got smacked in the head by Cranks," she commented. "They must really love us."

"The feeling's mutual," he responded drily, then pressed his lips against her forehead. The small display of affection warmed her heart considerably and she couldn't help but smile. She loved him so much that she wouldn't be able to articulate it into words.

"How many more miles d'yu reckon?" Newt asked.

"A couple, maybe, give or take," Minho replied. "It should be somewhere around here."

"But there's nothing to see for miles around but the shuck mountains," Archie said. "Was kinda hoping there might be a building with a cross on it. X marks the spot."

Cassandra snorted. "Dude, we're not on a treasure hunt."

"Maybe there's a rainbow that'll lead us to the land of unicorns," Minho scoffed out a laugh.

"You'll be the king, and I'll be the queen," she bit her lip in a futile effort to smother her amused grin.

"Maybe it's underground," Newt suggested.

"Maybe it's in the air," Minho responded, looking to the sky.

"Maybe I should kick your butt," the blonde rolled his eyes.

"Maybe we should head back out," Archie pointed. "Those girls can walk pretty fast."

Cassandra turned to find the cluster of black specks on the western horizon and found that they had already managed to pass them while they were resting. Minho took her hand and turned his eyes back on her. He looked like he had aged ten years in the past twenty four hours. Actually, maybe they all had ever since they started the stupid trial. Everyone definitely looked different, and it wasn't because of the dirt and heat.

"Are you okay to go now?" he asked her.

"I think so," she responded, rubbing a finger against her forehead tenderly. Other than a dull headache, the pain had subsided.

"What about everyone else?" There were murmurs of assent around the group and Minho stood up, helping Cassandra along as he did. "Okay. Let's get back out there then."

She tried to suppress a sigh but her next breath was still burdened with unease and weariness. There was an empty feeling in her gut that was not characteristic of someone who was reaching the end of their tribulations. By the look on Minho's face, he didn't seem convinced as well. Cassandra reached over and squeezed his hand tightly and he turned to look at her with a sad smile.

Together, the group of Gladers started across the barren desert ground for what they hoped would be their last time. The boys continued to chat amongst themselves in seemingly good spirits, their attentions now turned towards the girls of Group B.

"Do you think they'd all be as cute as Cass and Teresa? Didn't get a good look the last time."

"I think I'd prefer a blonde, like me."

"As long as she can cook, that's good enough for me, man."

"I'd be happy if they changed their minds about shooting us with bloody arrows."

Cassandra sighed in dismay as she overheard snippets of their conversation. Boys will always be boys, she thought, glancing to the side. Except Minho, of course. He was all hers.

"Why are you lookin' at me like that?" he gazed back at her with a wide smirk. "You know you're the only girl for me, Cassie."

"I know," she responded with a smug smile.

Someone behind them made a gagging sound and Archie cleared his throat before speaking loudly. "Not everyone can be as lucky as you two shanks."

They turned around to grin back at him and the rest of the Gladers. "We know," they said at the same time before snickering at the multiple eye rolls sent their way.

An hour passed as they continued their monotonous trek, viewing the same scenery for the past two weeks. Cassandra felt her nerves starting to vibrate with tense energy the longer they walked. She really hoped that there would be a promised cure at the end. If there wasn't, everything would have been for nought- their laborious journey and the people they had lost along the way.

She still couldn't think about them without feeling her heart aching, it was so much easier to imagine them safely back in the Glade like her dream. Would that make her delusional if she fooled herself into believing that it was true?

There were other things as well on her mind, like the fact that WICKED had been manipulating everything around them. Who were Rachel and Helenus? What exactly were their purpose? What was hers?

It felt that for every question answered, five more sprouted in its place.

Frypan started then with a cry of surprise that made everyone stop dead in their tracks to look at the boy. He pointed towards the west with his eyebrows raised. "I think they're waving at us."

Cassandra turned and saw one of the dark silhouettes in the distance waving her arm in the air. Squinting, she could see that there was something on the ground in front of them and confusion took form in her mind.

"Think they found somethin'?" Newt asked.

"There's only one way to find out," Minho said.

"Are you willingly going to walk towards the enemy?" Frypan raised a skeptical brow.

"If they've found a clue, I'm not gonna continue traipsing around this shuck place aimlessly," Minho told him. "Besides, if they really wanted us dead, they wouldn't be inviting us over to join them for tea."

"Dude, I don't know…"

"This ain't a democracy," Minho said snappily. "I'm headin' over and you can join me or not. It's up to you."

Frypan looked towards Cassandra for some kind of reasonable evaluation but she merely shrugged her shoulders. Minho turned in the direction of Group B and started to make his way towards them with her following suit. The Gladers exchanged apprehensive or guarded looks before proceeding to go after them. Newt caught up to the pair and they started to mutter worst case scenarios to each other.

When their group finally came within distance of the other, Cassandra could see the dark skinned girl was standing a little ways in front to greet them. She must be the leader of the group, maybe she was Nick or Alby's counter part. The girl nodded towards them and held her hands up in a gesture of amity.

"Look, everything that happened before was just a misunderstanding," she started when they were within hearing distance. "We're sorry if any of you got hurt. We decided not to kill Thomas but he disappeared while we were on our way down here."

"Do you _seriously_ expect us to believe that?" Minho asked, his voice laced thickly with disdain.

"No, and it really doesn't matter because there's something else more important," the girl told them. She turned to the side and gestured towards the object sticking out of the ground. "Make sense of that if you will."

All eyes were trained on the fluttering orange fabric that whipped about in the beginnings of a sudden broiling storm. The skies overhead turned dark, flashes of lightning threatening to break through the thin layer of evaporated mist. The black evenly spaced letters waved towards them in the brink of another catastrophic downpour. Cassandra could feel her heart empty out its contents into her stomach to allow it to be consumed by something dark and hot.

 **THE SAFE HAVEN**

She knew it was just too good to be true.


	45. MYSIANS

**ACT II SCENE XLV  
MYSIANS**

* * *

 **SHE COULD FEEL** her face quivering, as the tightly packed mass in her chest grew larger with each passing second, suffocating her and making it hard to breathe. The gale around them continued to howl with increasing tenacity, throwing up sand into the air. Harriet started to explain in further detail of what happened after they had abducted Thomas, and how Teresa kept telling them that he did something bad to her but not what.

"Sounds to me like she was hiding something," Newt said.

"Yeah, it was obvious she was but we never really dwelled on it," she responded. "She knew a lot more about WICKED than we did, and the weird man told us to listen to her."

"We were all convinced that we had to go through the Trial," a blonde girl told them. She seemed familiar to Cassandra, the sound of her voice reminded her of playful giggles and carefree days. Sonya? The name popped into her mind like another puzzle piece clicking into place.

"Hang on, where's Aris?" another dirty blonde girl stepped forwards, her pretty voice raspy from thirst. "We thought Aris was supposed to be with you."

"He snuck away," Newt replied simply.

"There wasn't much of a choice anyway," Harriet continued. "We travelled underground through the tunnels, lost a couple of girls on the way. The only thing that kept us going was the hope that it'll all be over soon."

Minho grunted derisively. "Fat shucking chance."

"It'll never be over," Cassandra said, her bitter voice filled to the brim with venom. "There's always going to be something else, another test, another Variable, another factor that they hadn't thought of before. We're all just freaking _test subjects_ to them, look at what they branded us with."

She stalked forwards and tore the flag out of the ground, breaking the wooden stick in half across her knee with a furious snarl. Everything was just a big joke. Cassandra threw the remnants on the ground and stomped on it, grinding her heel into the orange fabric. Newt started and backed away from her slowly, towards Minho who watched her with surprise on his face.

"I'm going to kill them!" she screamed in frustration, hands balling into tight fists. Her heart withered painfully with every face that flashed through her mind, agonising memories of all the friends that they had lost. "I'm going to shove this shucking flag up their asses so high that-"

"Hey, it's Thomas!" Frypan suddenly called out.

Cassandra paused in her tirade to exchange a look with Minho before the both of them made their way through the crowd. They stepped out to greet the oncoming trio that were running towards them from the south. Thomas was grinning when he saw them, charging through the belligerent wind. Teresa and Aris were just a few steps behind him.

Cassandra flew forwards, throwing her arms around his neck in a crushing hug. The last time she had seen him was when they both thought they were going to be dead, the relief that she felt at that moment was acute as it flowed through her veins.

"You idiot!" she yelled at him after letting go. "You need to stop getting yourself into deep klunk!"

"Cass," his eyes scanned her face, as he continued to grip her arms. "You're okay. I'm so glad you're okay."

"Let go," Minho demanded warningly from behind and Thomas let his hands fall back to his side. "'Bout time you slowpokes caught up with us."

"Teresa," Cassandra breathed, turning away from the boy to the girl instead. She enveloped her in a tighter hug with a large smile on her face. Teresa beamed back, her blue eyes wavering with unspoken gratitude.

"Hey, Cass," she responded. "I'm glad you're okay too."

"I don't know what the heck happened to the three of you, but I'm glad you're still alive," Cassandra turned to Aris, who stood awkwardly to the side. She reached over to grasp his arm. "Welcome back, shank."

Aris gave a small half-hearted smile. "Thanks."

"I thought you'd be fightin' tooth and nail with these girls after what they did to us," Thomas said, crossing his arms. "To me, anyway."

Cassandra stuck her tongue out at him and he mimicked her expression with exaggerated disgust. Minho and Teresa broke out into short laughs at their childish exchange; even Aris managed a chuckle at it.

"Well, first of all," Minho started. "They have nastier weapons, not to mention bows and arrows. We lost most of ours with everything happenin'. Plus, some chick named Harriet explained everything. We're the ones who should be surprised – that you're still with them." He shot a glare at both Teresa and Aris. "Never trusted either one of those shuck traitors."

"Minho," Cassandra frowned at him while drawing closer to Teresa protectively.

"They're on our side, trust me," Thomas said quickly, but he seemed to be holding in a sigh.

Minho gave a bitter laugh. "Figured you'd say that. Let me guess, it's a long story?"

"Yeah, very long story," the boy's lip twitched downward. "Anyway, why'd you all stop here? What's everybody looking at?"

"Have a peeky-peek yourself," Minho waved his hand while stepping to the side. He yelled for the converged groups to move aside. A few boys and girls looked at him before shuffling away to make a path that allowed them to see the broken pieces of the flag on the ground.

Thomas and Teresa frowned deeply as they took several steps forward to have a closer look, then Thomas turned around to stare at Cassandra.

"You did that, didn't you?" he pointed accusingly.

She smiled smugly in response, and he sighed before glancing at his watch.

"We have over an hour left. Our safe haven was a stick in the ground?" he looked around at them as if expecting someone to refute his claim.

"Wasn't so bad when you think about it," Minho shrugged. "More than half of us made it here. Looks like even more of the girlie group."

Aris had disappeared from their side, presumably to reunite himself with his friends. Thomas rounded on Minho heatedly.

"The Flare turn you crazy already?" he exclaimed. "Yeah, we got here. Safe and sound. To a broken stick."

Minho scoffed. "Dude, they wouldn't send us here for no reason. We made it in the time they gave us. Now we wait until the clock ticks down and something'll happen."

"That's what worries me," Thomas replied with a slight grimace.

"Hate to say it," Teresa started. "But I agree with Thomas. After everything they've done to us, it'd be way too easy to have a little sign here, and then they come get us in a nice helicopter as a reward. Something bad's gonna happen."

"I couldn't agree more," Cassandra grumbled unhappily. "But all we can do is wait for now. In the meantime, I want to know everything that happened to the both of you."

Thomas hesitated as he glanced back to Minho, who wore a disgruntled expression as he continued to glare at Teresa with distrust. Cassandra sent him a sharp look and he finally gave in with a sigh of resignation.

"Fine, explain, but let me get Newt first," he said. "Then I want to know Thomas' side of the story."

He left briefly, disappearing through the throng of teenagers behind him. A minute later, he reappeared with Newt in tow. The blonde's eyes were wide with awe as he looked between their little group.

"Hey, Tommy," he greeted. Just that, two words, as if Thomas hadn't gone through a near death experience at all.

"Hey," Thomas replied simply.

Newt crossed his arms, then turned to Teresa. "So Minho said you were going to explain everything. It better be bloody good, you know."

"Fine," Teresa sighed wearily. "I told Thomas the exact same thing while we were catching up with you guys. It all started when they took the both of us, I saw them strap Cass to a chair with some kind of device on her head. I don't know what they did to her, but they took me somewhere else. I felt my telepathy with her cut off, then they put something that smelled horrible over my mouth and I passed out.

When I woke up, I was lying in a bed in a different room with this bunch of people sitting in chairs behind a weird glass wall. I couldn't see it until I touched it, like some kind of force field or something."

"We know what you mean," Cassandra nodded.

"They told me about the entire plan, what Aris and I had to do to Thomas-"

"What did you do to him?" Minho interrupted sharply.

"I'm getting there," the girl waved her hand impatiently. "You already know they exchanged Aris with me, and I was with Group B the entire time. I guess they told you the same thing about the safe haven, the Flare. We went through the tunnels but you had to go through the city. The entire thing was all set up by them. I-"

She faltered, glancing at Thomas guiltily, and Cassandra braced herself for the new revelation.

"They told me to betray Thomas with Aris. He was my partner. We had to bring him to a cave in the mountain, make him believe that I... I wanted him dead. That I lied to him. That I was with Aris all along. It was all an act, I swear. They told me that if I did anything against their plan, they'd kill Thomas. Said they had 'other options'. That's why I did what I did. I couldn't let him die, not when I could do something about it."

Cassandra turned to Thomas who had a sullen expression across his face as he gazed stonily at the ground. She guessed that it had worked just as WICKED had planned. But it didn't seem that the both of them had sorted things out; if anything, there was now a rift between the two. It made her angrier than ever.

"Thomas?" Minho looked at his friend for confirmation. The boy looked up and nodded, telling them what had happened to him inside the cave after Teresa knocked him out. It was all eerily familiar.

"Back in the Glade," Cassandra started, pausing to clench her jaw. "I heard a voice that kept telling me I was a mistake. Whatever they did to me when we were taken... it made me go crazy- like real crazy.

Then I heard a voice calling to me in the mountain, and I thought it was Teresa. But when I went there, it was Rachel from Group B. She tried to kill me, tried to get Minho to kill himself too, while raving about how I was the reason this kid called Helenus died. It was her revenge to torture me."

She looked up at Thomas and Teresa's shocked faces, then to Newt and Minho who had sombre thoughtful expressions as they glanced back at her. They had both gone through similar trials, the same kind of test but with different Variables, she guessed.

"There's a link but I don't know what. But what I do know is that none of this is our fault," she said, her voice wavering from a fresh wave of emotion. "It's theirs," she pointed at the broken flag. "Those shuck-faces. It's all _their_ fault that everything is messed up."

"Helenus?" Teresa whispered with a frown. "It sounds so familiar... but I can't exactly remember..."

"Anyway..." Cassandra turned back to Thomas. "None of us wanted any of this to happen."

He didn't respond. Instead, he turned to the side when he caught sight of someone moving towards them from the group. Brenda stopped next to Minho with a quirky smile on her face.

"Hey, there," she said. "This the girl you were tellin' me about? When you and I were snuggling in that truck?"

"Wha-" Thomas started but Cassandra cut him off.

"I'm not in the mood for this, Brenda," she said morosely.

Then a sharp pain shot through her skull, filling it with loud static like a radio transmission giving off sparks. She collapsed to the ground on her knees, clutching her head, while crying out. Everyone rushed forwards to help her, and their voices melded into an indecipherable mess, but she was acutely aware of just one.

"Shit!" Brenda cried, scrambling to retrieve something from the inner pocket of her pants. "There's too many of you, the frequency-"

The girl pulled out a device that looked like a remote and started turning dials and pressing aggressively on multiple buttons. The static in her ears tuned down until it became mute, and Cassandra looked up with pained eyes.

"What the shuck was that?!" she yelled at the girl.

Brenda shuffled uneasily under the scrutiny of their combined gazes.

"The reason I came was to keep tabs on who all of you could communicate with," she finally explained with a sigh. "It's a jammer. I was the one cutting off your telepathies. But Cassandra's works on a higher frequency so it messes up sometimes."

"Dude," Minho stated in utter disbelief. He opened his mouth but found himself speechless with anger.

"Look, I-" she was cut off when Newt yelled loudly in surprise.

His eyes were trained over Thomas' shoulder at something in the distance, profound terror marked deeply on his features. Everyone turned to look and Cassandra felt her heart shuddering at what they saw.

A section of the ground was opening in a perfect square of about fifteen feet in width, throwing up more desert dust into the air that caught in the swirling wind that whipped about them. It pivoted on a diagonal axis, a white oblong pod slowly emerging from the depths of the earth. It reminded her of a coffin, albeit oddly shaped, and she knew instantly that there was something inside it.

Cassandra shot up and grabbed Brenda's arm roughly with widened eyes.

"What the hell is happening?!" she almost screamed in fear.

"I-I don't know," the girl stuttered.

Then all around them, more sections of the ground started to uncover themselves in a wide circle. The sounds of their metallic groaning pierced through the air over the raucous squall, making it sound like an army of demons were closing in on them.

They were surrounded.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE :**

I love Teresa. I'm glad Cassie is on her side and with the trial she went through as well, it's very very closely related to Teresa and Thomas'. Sorry, Brenda fans, if I keep making her the bad guy, I'll redeem her in the next book haha.


	46. THERISTAI

**ACT II SCENE XLVI  
THERISTAI (THE REAEPERS)**

* * *

 **CASSANDRA WAS SCARED;** there was no use in trying to deny that blatant fact as her heart clenched uncomfortably in her chest. The grinding and squealing of the metal gears that lifted the pods up to the ground were blaring. Everyone pressed their hands against their ears in an attempt to block it out but to no avail. Combined with the thunderous flurry that surrounded them in a tempest of blustering wind, it felt like judgement day had arrived on them.

And it probably was, she thought. This was WICKED's way of judging who were deem 'worthy' of passing the Trials. Disgust filled her, turning her mouth sour, as she gulped the acidic taste back down her throat. She despised them, and when she was done with whatever it was that waited in those pods, she was going to destroy them.

Cassandra felt someone's fingers curl gently around her own and she turned to find Minho taking her hand in his. He looked at her, squinting against the yellow sand and grit that swirled around in the gale to rip at their forms. Hair tangled about in a bluster around the girls' heads and jackets rippled all around them. The particles in the air pelted against the metallic surfaces of the pods with such intensity that it made Cassandra's ears grow numb. She tightened her grip on Minho's hand, hoping that the incessant fear wouldn't clearly show itself on her face.

" _Tom. Cass,_ " Teresa started. " _Remember those?_ "

" _Yeah,_ " Thomas replied.

" _Think Grievers are inside them?_ " she asked.

Cassandra tried to search her brain for an inkling of what they were talking about but there was nothing. She had no recollection of finding Grievers inside white pods. It was probably from another blank in her memories.

" _I don't know,_ " Thomas said. " _Grievers had really moist bodies- it'd be hard on them out here._ "

" _Maybe we're meant to… get inside them?_ " Teresa wondered optimistically. " _Maybe they're the safe haven, or they'll transport us somewhere._ "

" _Or there's another monster waiting for us and we'll die,_ " Cassandra told them.

" _Thank you, Cass,_ " they said at the same time while rolling their eyes. It made her lips twitch slightly at the side from wry amusement.

"So what do we do?" Minho asked as he drew closer, obviously sensing that she had been conversing telepathically with the two.

"If those things have Grievers in 'em, we best start gettin' ready to fight the shuck buggers," Newt quipped.

Cassandra frowned. "Why does everyone think there are Grievers in them?"

"Another time, Cassie," Minho rubbed the top of her head in a placating manner.

"What're you guys talking about?" a voice called out behind them. They turned around to locate Harriet's voice; Sonya and the other blonde girl were with her, walking towards them with Jorge trailing along.

"The three queens of glorious Group B?" Minho raised an eyebrow.

"Does that make Teresa and I the queens of Group A then?" Cassandra grinned crookedly.

"Cassie, technically, you don't belong to Group A," he reminded her.

"Oh, yeah," her smile fell, replaced by a pensive expression. "I am my own queen."

He started to laugh until Newt elbowed him in the ribs and shot him a look to quit joking around. Jorge and the girls stopped next to their group with expectant looks directed their way.

"I'm assuming you all saw those pods back in the WICKED chamber too," Harriet said. "They had to be where the Grievers charged up or whatever it was they did."

"Oh," Cassandra looked at her in wonder. "That's why."

The girls shot her a strange look and Minho sighed. "She loses parts of her memories," he explained briefly.

A streak of lightning thundered above them in the crackling sky, earning a jump from Cassandra and she instantly grabbed hold of Minho's arm on instinct. Her heart started to thud furiously against her sternum, flashes of fire running across her mind. Minho glanced at her in concern as she looked back to him with alarmed eyes. The air started to turn humid and hummed as if residual particles from the coming storm sparked the wind with an electrical current.

"It's okay," Minho whispered, rubbing her arm, and she eased her grip on his bicep slightly.

"We've only got twenty-five minutes," Thomas informed, checking his watch once more. "We're either gonna be fighting Grievers or we need to get inside those big coffins at the right time. Maybe they're the-"

A sudden hiss interrupted him in mid speech and everyone whirled around at the same time to stare out at the movement in their peripheries. Dark blue light lined one side of each container, expanding slowly as the top lid began to peel upwards. The Gladers and the girls of Group B closed in around each other, forming into a tight knot that felt all too familiar.

Chills erupted on every inch of Cassandra's skin as bursts of images flashed through her mind of their own volition. Blood and screams, metal blades slashing through delicate flesh, the clanging of steel, crimson hands reaching out to her for help, ripping pain piercing through her heart. Cassandra gasped sharply, flinching away as she pressed against Newt's back behind her with Teresa and Minho flanking her sides.

"Cass, are you okay?" Teresa grabbed her hand worriedly.

"Yeah," she responded breathlessly, opening her eyes to a haze of colours that eventually settled back to a normal landscape. Minho wrapped an arm around her waist and she welcomed the contact.

"The shuck is happening?' he muttered next to her ear as she turned her attention back to the opened pods. She took a deep shuddering breath, as the world seemed to still around them with uneasy trepidation.

The lids dropped heavily to the ground but the scathing wind and rumble overhead drowned out whatever sound it made. Inside, they could see something heavy nestled within its confines but they looked nothing like the horrendous abominations that plagued them within the Maze.

" _Maybe… someone should go take a look_ ," she heard Thomas say tentatively in her mind.

" _Let's go together_ ," Teresa replied readily.

Cassandra turned to look at her in shock. " _Are you crazy?!_ "

"Cassie!" Minho suddenly called next to her. "You, me, Thomas and Newt! Let's go check it out!"

She turned back to him, sending him the exact same look she had shot Teresa just a second earlier. Cassandra groaned inwardly, questioning her choices in both friend and boyfriend.

Her attention was diverted to the cumulative gasps all around them, and her eyes widened in horror when she saw the reason behind the outburst. A deformed arm had dropped out of a pod, stubby uneven fingers wriggling in the air inches above the ground. There were creases and lumps covering its pallid skin, before merging around the area of its elbow where a flawless circular protrusion seemed to grow out from its bones.

It was glowing a vibrant orange, exactly like a light bulb.

Then more body parts emerged from the bed of the oblong chambers, a thick foot connected to a bloated leg and another glowing orb attached to its knee. Its body pulled itself upright, a tangled grotesque mass of flesh that was dotted with orange luminous crystals.

"What is that thing?!" Minho shouted.

Cassandra shook her head, feeling her jaw slack with mute terror and catching dust particles on her tongue. She coughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand and looked around as more monsters flopped out onto the ground. They were large and humanoid, at least a couple of feet taller than any one of them. Strewn all across their bare blemished bodies were those disgusting bulbous tumours that glowed resplendent with the same orange light. They grew from its joints, chest and back, as well as its smooth featureless head.

"I'm going to be sick," Sonya commented loudly somewhere nearby, her voice filled with revulsion.

The creatures stood, staggering as they tried to find their balance. Some had accidentally shattered a bulb while getting out of the pods. About thirty or so of them surrounded their group in a wide circle. Then, as if in silent accord, they slowly held their arms up high with stumpy fingers pointed toward the sky. Lightning flashed down from ominous dark clouds, just as dozens of silver blades erupted from the tips of their fingers, toes and shoulders. They reflected off the electrical bolts with gleaming cruelty and promise of affliction.

Then a low, eerie moan emanated from the depths of their bodies, over the gale and crashes of thunder.

" _Maybe Grievers would have been better,_ " Teresa said drily.

" _They're enough alike,_ " responded Thomas.

Minho turned quickly to survey the crowd of gaping onlookers around them.

"There's about one for each of us!" he yelled. "Grab whatever you got for a weapon!"

A long black object was pressed into Cassandra's empty hands and she stared down at it in bafflement. She looked up and saw Brenda nodding at her from the side, not realising that the girl had been carrying it with her the entire time. Cassandra gripped the hilt of the katana in her hand and slid the blade out of its sheath with a cold hollow ring. The first droplet of rain stained the polished metal, falling over the edge to darken the ground.

At the same time, as if sensing the summon to contest, the bulb monsters started towards them with jerking limbs. Lumbering feet marched forwards, their movements growing sure and swift with each passing step.

There was no escape.


	47. TENES

**ACT II SCENE XLVII  
TENES**

* * *

 **MINHO AND HARRIET** were both shouting instructions to their respective groups. She could only hear her leader over the thunderous howls rippling around them as he stood next to her. His arm fell from her waist, accepting the sword that was handed to him by Newt. Streaks of lightning continued to shoot across the slated sky above them with menacing discord. Cassandra tried to ignore the drumming of her heart against her chest as her eyes calculated the field.

"Minho!" she called, moving forwards to connect the large circle that was taking form to match the oncoming threat.

He nodded in her direction, quickly stepping up next to her with Teresa on her other side. Newt and Thomas followed suit and within the next three seconds, they had all taken up positions in the ring.

Swallowing thickly, she started slightly when Teresa nudged her in the side. The girl gestured towards the monster blundering across the terrain directly in front of her. Cassandra guessed she had chosen her target and turned to look at the one that seemed to have picked her instead.

" _I guess that one likes me_ ," she said drily.

" _Hm,_ " Teresa responded.

"Cassie!" Minho touched her elbow and she turned back to him. She could see the anxiety marking his features, the turbulent storm reflected in his eyes. Her breathing started to quicken, the chorus of moans and claps of thunder almost overpowering the rest of her senses. The monsters were about twenty-five feet away from them now and she steeled herself, feeling her atoms sizzle with a voltaic charge.

Minho squeezed her arm. "Together."

She only had a second to take in the obstinate determination in his eyes before the moans in front of her grew to its zenith. Nodding, she tightened her grip on the hilt of her katana. Minho let go of her to prepare himself and she faced forwards again whilst waiting for his signal.

"Now!" he yelled.

Then at the same time, they took off towards the creatures side by side. Teresa was on her heels instantly, followed closely by Newt and Thomas. Cassandra could hear their tumultuous yells mixed with the droning roar of the monsters and the burst of thunder like a static detonation.

Suddenly, all she could see was Alby and Lee being torn apart by Grievers in front of her eyes. Clint and Andy being pitched across the corridor of the Maze like limp dolls. Nick and Ben screaming in her ears to save them. Chuck and Rachel bleeding across the floor, the life draining from their pale faces. Tears pricked her eyes as her breath caught painfully in her throat.

She faltered, sliding to the ground abruptly as she met with the first monster. The tip of her blade glanced off a bulb, drawing a mere scratch across its surface. Cassandra scrambled away across the ground as thin needle-like blades tore through the air. The monster chased after her, swiping its hands from side to side, cutting into her back.

Her eyes darted around in a panic, tears already brimming over the edges and trailing down her cheeks, arms trembling as she took sharp intakes of air. Except no matter how much she inhaled, it didn't feel like any oxygen was being absorbed into her lungs. The monster was knocked down from the side, landing in a heap on the hard packed dirt. Minho was standing above her, attacking relentlessly as it picked itself back up.

"Cassie!" he was yelling. "Cassie, are you okay?!"

She dug her nails into the earth, feeling the grit underneath her skin, as she tried to hold her grasp on reality. A wave of icy paralysis washed over her body as she struggled to keep her breathing even, warmth flooding her face from the strenuous effort. Her ears rung, but with the echoes of a different battle that seemed to be from another lifetime.

"Cassie, what's wrong?!" Minho shouted, daring to glance back at her. A blade caught itself against his arm, tearing through the fabric of his jacket and slicing a line across his skin.

Everything seemed to sway in and out of focus, and then she saw him again. She remembered his dull lifeless eyes staring blankly up at the pale sky, his body spilled out onto the soft grass like an offering to the gods. For some reason, she could remember with perfect clarity how he looked like when he was still whole and healthy and alive. The golden flecks in his vibrant green irises, the curve of his nose, his lips quirked into an easy smile- a glimpse of the confident boy that had once been their unwavering leader.

Why? Why was it always Nick? She could hear his voice speaking to her in her mind, slow and calm. It seemed to fill the insides of her head, blocking everything else out as she focused on his words.

" _Sometimes I ask myself why I'm here, what I'm doing here, you know?" he told her. "I don't really have a purpose. I'm here because I just am, that my existence just happily coincided with everyone else's in this infinite universe. So I gave myself one. I wanted to protect everybody, I wanted to find a way out, I wanted to fight. And that was all you, Cass, you taught me that. Thank you."_

" _I don't understand," she frowned._

" _Maybe one day you will," he smiled._

Something inside her stilled, as if someone had turned down the knob on the volume to a low whisper. Realisation, like a budding seed, sprung forth from the depths of her understanding. The fragmented impressions in her mind starting to mend themselves together. Nick had never been haunting her; he was helping her to remember.

"Cassie!" Minho screamed nearby.

Cassandra jerked back to her senses, everything flooding back to the forefront of her mind in a glorious frenzy of sounds and sights. The tears stopped, replaced with cognizant sovereignty of her actions. Another monster had started in her direction at having found easy prey. She grasped her katana, swinging out in front of her in a sweeping arc that caught at the creature's leg. There was a torrent of sparks as the bulb on its knee broke, showering her with flecks of heat. Minho stumbled backwards, a new cut decorating his right cheek.

"Cassie?" he turned to her.

"I'm okay now," she responded steadily, glancing back at him before pulling out her trusted knife from the back of her belt. She plunged it into the orange crystal in its chest with another shower of sparks. They pulsated like living hearts all across the monster's body as if pumping life through non-existent veins.

Then she realised that it _was._

Looking around, she could see Thomas and Teresa had already grasped their situation, popping orbs in a dance of gleaming silver. Newt was aiming his sword deliberately at his injured foe as it swung blades at his head. Frypan and Archie had ganged up on a single monster, taking it down swiftly through combined effort before moving on to the next.

Cassandra turned back to her adversary, impatiently pushing hair from her face that stuck to her skin with wild static. She ducked and moved with a burst of dexterity, aiming at every exposed orange orb she could find. With every rupture of a bulb, the monster seemed to lose a bit more of its energy or whatever it was that kept it going.

She felt thin cuts across her skin, a puncture wound on her leg when she had stepped wrongly, but she continued to attack relentlessly with flying sparks. Finally, she could only see one more crystal on the top of its head and she lifted her katana over her shoulders. With a furious cry, she brought it down against the flickering orb and caused it to shatter under the force of her swing. There was a ghastly moan as the monster slumped forwards, dropping heavily at her feet.

Breathing wearily, Cassandra turned around just in time to watch as Minho tripped over a body of a fallen Glader behind him. The monster he was fighting ambled forwards, ready to strike.

"Min!" she yelled, throwing her knife in its direction. It broke a bulb, causing the monster to stumble and giving Minho the opportunity to roll away.

He quickly picked himself up, throwing quick jabs and tenacious strikes at the remaining orbs on the monster. It had already been dragging its body when she intervened. Just as the last orange crystal shattered, the creature crumpled to the ground with a hollow groan of pure agony.

Minho turned towards her with a look of incredulity.

"My name ain't short enough for you?" he asked.

A snort escaped her throat as she pressed her lips together. She felt a laugh starting to bubble from her chest when a roar engulfed her and a sudden burst of heat flung her to the side. The impact she made on the ground jolted her body and sent spasms of pain running across her synapses. Her ears started to ring in that painful deafening way as she looked back to find a deep crater in the ground a few feet away from where she had previously been standing.

Another blast of lightning struck the ground nearby, spitting dirt into the air and scattering it around the bodies laid strewn across the ground.

Cassandra whirled around, her frightened eyes scanning the field as more forks of lightning broke through the brume. Minho. Where was Minho? She lurched forwards, pushing herself to a stand and turning around in a full circle. Her head spun, pure rippling panic breaking through the surface of her apprehension.

"Minho," her lips moved soundlessly. "Minho. Where's Minho?"

She screamed involuntarily as another tendril of lightning shot down, directly onto a girl that had just defeated a monster. The rumble across the earth threw Cassandra off her feet once again and her knees hit the ground sharply. She felt someone pick her up, pulling her back to a stand. Cassandra looked up to find Sonya's concerned face peering back at her.

"Cass?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

They blinked simultaneously, surprise evident on each other's face. Had Sonya been close enough to hear the others call her by name?

"Minho," she gripped the blonde's arms tightly. "Where is he?"

The girl craned her head and looked around, gentle green eyes searching for a sign of the boy. She gasped when she finally found him, turning Cassandra around and pointing into the distance. He had been helping Newt fend off two other bulb monsters with his knives.

"C'mon, let's help them!" Sonya cried.

Cassandra nodded hastily before taking off at a sprint in their direction. The lightning seemed to subside slightly, replaced with the sudden torrent of rain. The two girls slammed against the monsters, taking one each, as they knocked them down with the force of their momentum. Minho and Newt started at seeing them before wasting no time in smashing the remaining crystals. Another moan of anguish, louder than the deluge and crashing thunder, made her cringe on the surface.

"We can't stand around here!" Sonya shouted.

"What can we do?" Newt yelled back.

" _Cass!_ " Teresa called. " _Get into the pods! Hurry!_ "

Cassandra grabbed Minho's hand and he threw her a confused look as she started to drag him away. Not wanting to waste her breath trying to communicate what she wanted to do, she started pointing frantically towards the pods that were about thirty feet away from them. Newt and Sonya exchanged glances before running after her.

They reached the pods just as the next barrage of lightning bolts started to ravage the ground in another volley of searing white heat. The air all around them was alive, charged thickly with electrical particles and tufts of red dirt flying from the ground. Cassandra slipped on a patch of soft earth in her urgency, almost colliding into the side of the pod if Minho hadn't jerked her back.

They crowded around, staring dubiously into its depths where water had pooled at the bottom. Another crash of lightning nearby sent them bustling to get inside, squeezing together into a tight fit. Cassandra and Minho leaned over the edge, grabbing hold of both sides of the lid that was lined with a rubber membrane. They pulled at the same time and the top lifted easily, swinging towards them until they ducked their heads down to allow it to close completely.

The smell inside was acrid and Cassandra scrunched up her nose with aversion. Newt's watch lit up opposite her and she could see the shadowy contours of his face.

"There's about five minutes left," he told them.

A second later, there was an ear-splitting crack as something smashed into the top of the lid. Cassandra felt Minho reaching out for her hand and she fumbled around until they finally found each other.

"Do you think this is it?" Sonya asked. "We wait in here till the time is up?"

Each of their digital watches lit up as they counted down until the supposed deadline. Minho shook his head slowly, his face lined with a deep frown.

"Guessing on our luck, I don't think so," he replied drily.

Another deafening crash struck their pod and a burnt smell permeated as the lightning had seemingly singed a layer off. Minho shifted agitatedly next to her, then she felt his hand grip hers tightly.

"Do you hear that?" he asked.

Cassandra stilled herself, unconsciously holding her breath, as she strained her ears against the blitz raining down on them outside. She didn't have to exert her senses for long as she felt her atoms beginning to vibrate with the thrum of thruster engines and heavy machinery. There was no mistaking the sound that overpowered the torrential downpour hovering above them.

"A Berg… it's a Berg," she whispered before raising her voice. "We need to get out! We need to go now!"

"What?" Newt yelped.

"C'mon! We can't waste time!" Cassandra lifted her arms and started to push against the lid. Minho stood up and threw his shoulder against the top, causing it to swing open onto the other side. Rain cascaded down on them, soaking and chilling them to the bone. The Berg flew overhead, slowly landing about fifty feet away from them onto claw-like landing structures. Minho stepped out of the pod, helping her along with Newt and Sonya.

Cassandra looked around at the others, some more groups starting to peek out of their own pods as well. She caught Thomas' eye opposite her on the west side of the clearing. In that instant, they both knew what they were supposed to do.

Without further deliberation, they started forwards and ran.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE :**

I REALLY HOPED I GOT CASSIE'S PTSD OKAY, I'M SORRY IF I DIDN'T, I TRIED.


	48. CRESPHONTES

**ACT II SCENE XLVIII  
CRESPHONTES**

* * *

 **THE HATCH TO THE BERG** started to open, a cold yet inviting blue glow leaking through the widening gap. Cassandra could make out the shapes of the other Gladers and Group B pushing through the tempest to converge in the direction of the vehicle. Minho was by her side, with Newt and Sonya flanking the both of them. They eventually met up with Teresa and Thomas, who flailed his arms at their direction as he squinted against the attack of miniscule particles that cut at their exposed skin.

"Run!" he screamed, drawing a knife from his pocket and holding it tightly in front of him.

Cassandra saw the flicker of several orange orbs scattering the shadowy figures of remaining monsters, ambling towards them from the back of the Berg. More Gladers and girls joined them, all preparing themselves for a final confrontation. Harriet and Aris were soon running alongside them, Frypan and Archie somewhere down the line. She could see Thomas slipping twice, then falling onto the now slippery ground. Teresa picked him up swiftly, grabbing hold of his arm and all but dragging him back to his feet.

The lightning continued to flash all around them through the thick shroud of beating rain, blazing incandescent and illuminating the darkened sky in intervals. Cassandra could see the jerky movements of the monsters, like wax figures being held up by marionette strings. On the landing of the cargo door stood dark figures holding guns slack in their hands. It was obviously more for show than any effort to assist them. It fuelled the burning hatred inside her chest, and she ripped the blade of her katana from its sheath with savage ferocity.

"Go right through 'em!" Thomas yelled.

There was a collection of ringing as everyone drew their weapons, silver blades gleaming eagerly under the reflected light of the storm. Fear and distress gave way to a single vehement desire for retribution. Thunder cracked with electrical discharge, the monsters roared in anticipation, and Cassandra screamed as she lunged forwards with ruthless endeavour.

The sharp sound of crystal shattering was a pleasant tune to her ears, as all around her the Gladers and girls attacked remorselessly. Battle cries and yells of triumphant soon joined to produce a crescendo of devastation. Cassandra swung her katana, slashing at and rupturing the bulbous orange lights. They fractured and fizzled out, the creature wailing underneath the onslaught of her attacks before collapsing in defeat.

She wiped away the bead of blood that trickled from a cut above her brow bone and turned around. Her eyes instantly found Minho and Teresa finishing off their monsters as well. Newt was limping towards her, putting most of his weight onto his bad leg. The sound of the Berg's engine igniting caught her attention and she let out an involuntary gasp.

"It's leaving!" Thomas yelled, waving his arms frantically at the airship. "Hurry!"

Cassandra turned on her heel and ran just as another bolt of lightning struck the ground behind her. There was a scream, but she could hardly make anything out anymore from the drumming of her own heart in her ears. Minho was by her side in the next second, throwing his arm out towards her and she grasped hold of it. They pulled each other along in their celerity, keeping an eye on Newt in front of them with his limp.

The Berg had risen three feet in the air, slowly orbiting on its thrusters towards its desired direction. Frypan and Archie had dove into the opening along with three other girls. Cassandra could feel a stitch forming in her side, threatening to hinder her chance at escape. Newt was the first to jump at the hatch, his hands catching the edge and hauling himself over with straining muscles.

Minho let go of her arm, throwing himself into the air and easily climbing on board. She knew she had to go next, tensing her muscles taut to kick at the ground as hard as she could. Her stomach collided with the hard edge of the metal door, wincing slightly as she scrambled to pull herself upwards. Minho and Newt grabbed hold of her arms, dragging her into the cargo bay of the ship. They exchanged brief grins of elation before turning around to help anyone else.

Aris had just managed to grab hold of the hatch and Minho leaned forwards to help him in. Cassandra grabbed hold of Sonya's hand as her fingers slipped across the sleek metal, throwing her off balance. The Berg was now six feet above the ground as Newt and Harriet helped the other blonde girl Cassandra still hadn't learned the name of.

With a soft grunt, Cassandra managed to pull Sonya up so the girl was able to swing her leg onto the landing. They collapsed in a panting heap and looked around to find that everyone else had made it. The Berg was already starting to fly away, ascending higher into the sky with every second. In the distance, the lifeless bodies of the unfortunate laid around the remnants of the ghoulish monstrosities with their empty grooves of disgusting flesh.

She felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach when she caught a glimpse of a familiar face lying on the wet ground.

It was Ed.

A hand flew up to her mouth and she turned away into Minho's waiting arms. He crushed her breathless against his chest and she could feel his relief flowing through her bones. She said a small parting apology in her mind to those that hadn't made it as she hugged Minho back, allowing them a small victorious moment.

"Who are these two people?!"

They turned around in bewilderment at the man with short red hair. He was pointing at Jorge and Brenda who sat shivering in a corner. Minho frowned angrily, a scowl twisting his features as he glared back.

"Somebody answer me!" the man yelled again.

"Dude, quit the act! We know they're with you!" Minho spat.

The man's face smoothed into an impenetrable façade as everyone watched for his next move. The hatch remained wide open, wind tunnelling through the gaping door and whipping through their hair.

Thomas stood up quickly, his face filled with conviction. "Look, we did what we had to do. Now, let us go!"

"Sometimes I forget how little you people understand what's going on," the man shook his head. "They failed to keep their identities secret, so as punishment; one of them has to go."

"What?!" Thomas cried in outrage.

Cassandra exchanged shocked looks with Minho and Newt; the latter's eyes wide with apprehension.

"What do you mean the other goes?" Thomas tried again.

"We don't have time for this!" the man said, unlocking the safety on his gun and aiming it at Brenda's head. "You have five seconds to choose the one who stays. Don't choose and they both die. One."

"Wait!"

Brenda and Jorge did nothing, choosing to remain silent as they stared down at the grey metal floor.

"Two."

Cassandra looked between the two of them, throwing Minho a look for help. It seemed he was at a loss of what to do as well.

"Three."

She was about to throw her knife at the man when Thomas blurted out, pointing in Brenda's direction.

"Kill her."

Her jaw went slack as she tensed her body, waiting for the bang of the gun and the sound to ricochet off the sides of the Berg. But nothing happened. The man stuffed the gun into the back of his pants and reached forwards to grab Brenda's arm instead. He dragged her across the floor, ready to throw the girl out into the swirling abyss below.

That was when Thomas finally acted, throwing himself at the man and tackling him down to the floor. The gun clattered across the landing and Cassandra lunged forwards to grab a hold of it. Brenda fell, tripping over her own feet, until Teresa reached out to pull her away from plummeting to death. Thomas leaned his entire weight on his forearm against the man's throat as Cassandra hovered above them with the gun pointed for a headshot.

"No one else dies!" Thomas said, panting heavily. "If we haven't done enough to pass your stupid tests, then we fail. The tests are over."

"Let us go now," she added, cocking the gun in her hands.

Then there was a sharp squeal as the cargo doors started to close on rusty hinges. The man on the floor squirmed under Thomas' grasp, a small smile quirking the side of his lips upwards.

"My name's David," he told them, as if they cared. The doors finally closed fully, an uneasy silence filling the air with only the low hum of the ship's engines to accommodate for it. "Don't worry, you're right. It's over. It's all over."

Cassandra didn't believe a word he said and she scowled, waving the gun menacingly in front of her.

"Do I look like a shuck fool to you?!" she snapped.

"Tell me about it," Thomas frowned, his voice held a sharp edge to it. "This time we mean it. We're not going to sit back and let you treat us like rats anymore. We're done."

David looked about the cargo hold, seeing similar angry and blank faces staring back at him. Minho got up and stood next to her, crossing his arms as he glared at the man. Thomas let go of him, slowly backing away as the man pushed himself to a stand. He shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged nonchalantly as he eyed the gun that was still trained on him.

"What you don't understand is that everything has gone and will continue to go as planned," he told them. "But you're right, the Trials are complete. We're taking you to a place of safety- a real place of safety. No more tests, no more lies, no more setups. No more pretending."

He paused in consideration. "I can only promise one thing. When you hear why we've put you through this, and why it's so important that so many of you survived, you'll understand. I promise you'll understand."

His gaze swept over to Thomas, before landing on Cassandra. It made her feel uneasy.

Minho snorted beside her. "That's the biggest bunch of klunk I've ever heard in my life."

"And what about the cure?" Thomas asked. "We were promised that. How can we believe anything you tell us?"

"Think what you want now," David said. "Things will change from here on out, and you'll get the cure, just like you were told. As soon as we get back to headquarters. You can keep that gun, by the way- we'll even give you some more, if you'd like. There'll be nothing else for you to fight against, no tests or trials to ignore or refuse. Our Berg will land, you'll see that you're safe and cured, and then you can do what you want. The only thing we'll ever ask you to do again is to listen. Only to listen. I'm sure you're at least intrigued by what's behind all this?"

"No," Cassandra replied curtly.

"No more games," Thomas said evenly.

"First sign of trouble," Minho added. "We start fighting. If that means we die, then so be it."

David broke out into a beam. "You know, that's exactly what we predicted you'd do at this point." He motioned towards a small nondescript door at the back of the hold. "Shall we?"

Cassandra fumed. "Yeah, well, can you predict this?!"

She threw a punch at his face, knocking the smile off his face as he stumbled back into the wall. He rubbed his jaw, a small smirk starting to form again to infuriate her even further.

"Actually, yes."

"You shucking piece of klunk!" she screamed, throwing the gun at his head and lunging forwards. Minho caught her around the waist, somehow managing to find humour in her frustration as he grinned at her.

"Cassie, I think he got the message," he guffawed.

"So what's next on the bloody agenda?" Newt asked.

"Just thought you'd like to eat something, maybe take a shower. Sleep," David started walking towards the door, completely unfazed. "It's a very long flight."

Everyone exchanged wary glances but their answer seemed obvious. They didn't actually have much of a choice.

With a heavy heart, Cassandra let Minho guide her after the strange man.


	49. HERACLEIDAE

**ACT II SCENE XLIX  
HERACLEIDAE**

* * *

 **EVERYTHING WAS A BLINDING WHITE;** the fluorescent lights shining above them were a striking contrast to the inky dark sky outside. David led them down a long corridor that was lined with identical metal doors, before entering a large observation deck. The entire side of the room on their left was made of glass, the turbulent weather outside still raging with insolence.

Guards in black uniforms lined the walls but they made a show of keeping their stances relaxed and grips on their guns loose. A few attendants stepped up to greet them, all wearing the same white uniform that the ones in the dormitory had worn at the beginning of the Trial. It seemed like years had passed since then, instead of just a fortnight ago. Everything felt surreal and out of place.

"I'm gonna have a shower," Cassandra announced and Teresa nodded willingly. The rest of the girls followed as an attendant guided them towards the bathroom.

About eight stalls were lined in front of them and there was a stack of fluffy white towels with fresh clothes waiting on the counter. Cassandra headed towards the wide mirror that covered the opposite wall above the row of square sinks. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting but it wasn't the girl that stared back at her in the reflection.

Her gaze instantly went to the pale thin line running horizontal across her throat. She guessed the scar would have been inevitable, a stark reminder of her brush with death.

There was a large purplish bruise along her left cheekbone, cuts embellishing almost every inch of her skin. Her bottom lip was split, dark circles underneath her eyes. The worst part was her hair, matted with blood and grime. She started to peel the wet shirt from her body, stripping down to her underwear before stepping into a stall. After taking the rest of her clothes off and the bandage on her inner thigh, she turned the knob on the shower.

Cassandra traced the faint line of stitches that had probably dissolved into her skin, she guessed, from the looks of it. The bandage had kept it mostly clean so it seemed normal for the most part. She allowed herself to relax under the warm stream of water, sighing in a brief moment of respite before scrubbing herself down.

She didn't want to think about how she had managed to survive so long without bathing. The act of washing away the cake of desert dust was cathartic and a small part of her wanted to stay in there forever. Eventually, she turned the knob shut and wrapped a towel around her body. Teresa exited her stall at the same time as Cassandra, the both of them getting changed into identical new attire behind a screen in the corner. It was all white. Surprise, surprise.

"I kinda hate this," Cassandra commented, scrunching her nose at her now revitalised reflection. She rubbed vigorously at her hair to dry it, noticing the uneven strands at the back of her head. _Best cut of her life_ , she snorted inwardly at Frypan's handiwork.

"Me too," Teresa responded, her blue gaze glancing at her from the mirror. "None of this feels right."

"Like when they brought us to that dorm after the Maze," Sonya said, as she stepped over to them with a brush in hand.

"That's exactly what I thought," Cassandra told her. "I don't believe a thing they say. I can't. Not after everything we've been through."

"Some more than others," Teresa added quietly.

"At least we're safe from monsters now," the other blonde girl shrugged. Cassandra looked at her curiously and she seemed to notice. "I'm Eve, by the way."

"Cassandra," she smirked back at the girl.

"And I'm starving," Harriet said. "Let's see what food they have waiting for us."

They exited the bathroom, leaving the rest of the girls to finish their ministrations before catching up with them. Cassandra combed through her damp hair as she walked alongside Teresa. Eventually, they came across the boys' bathroom on the way back to the observation deck. Archie greeted her as he stepped through the door.

"Minho and the others went on ahead," he said. "I think I smell bacon. Gotta dash!"

With that, he raced his way towards the direction of the food. She shook her head at his back, taking her time to chat with the girls. It felt nice to be in different company, or people of the same gender, to be exact. As close as she was to the boys, it was a completely different experience. Sonya and Harriet were full of smiles as they joked about things that she could actually relate to.

"Hey, Cassie!" Minho called when he saw her walk up to the buffet table.

There were a few chairs and tables strewn about the deck, but most of the Gladers had opted to hover around the table as they ate. Minho stepped up to her with a plate piled high with an assortment of food. She eyed it with astonished disbelief.

"Are you sure you can finish all that?" she asked.

"No, that's why you're helping me," he said before pulling her away.

He seized the handle of the first door they reached in the adjoining corridor and pushed it open. There was a decent sized cabin inside with a desk, wardrobe and bed the only pieces of furniture to decorate it. A round window was opposite the door, displaying the azure sky outside and wisps of white clouds trailing past the moving ship.

Cassandra darted over and pressed her face against it, looking out at the view. She hadn't remembered what it was like to be so high in the air and she marvelled at the wide-open sea below, glistening and glimmering like iridescence. The sea foam sparkled, dancing flamboyantly under the glorious canvas of the setting sun.

Minho had settled himself on the bed, placing the plate of food on the bedside table. He held his hand out to her, beckoning with a wide smile, and she crawled across the bed towards him.

"So," he started as she settled in his lap. "Do you know how to fly a Berg?"

She laughed at him, picking up a muffin and shoving it into her mouth. It tasted of blueberries, wistfully reminding her of the Glade.

"I was thinking if all of us got our hands on a weapon, we could probably take on all those shuckfaces out there," he told her. "Maybe we could keep Jorge to fly this shuck thing. Bring us to a nice island or somewhere."

"Except that they could probably track the Berg down and come after us," she pointed.

"Can they really do that?" he looked at her with wide eyes.

Cassandra grinned despite herself, leaning over and pressing her lips against his. She could taste chocolate on his tongue.

"Minho," her blasé tone belying the solemnity of her words. "As much as I would love to fly off into the sunset with you, I don't think it's gonna happen anytime soon."

He smiled sadly at her, caressing her cheek gently as his thumb traced the edges of her lower lip. Drawing nearer, he leaned his forehead against hers and she could feel his soft breath against her skin as he sighed. Minho kissed her sweetly, tenderly, a divine testament to everything that they had been through together.

Cassandra pressed her lips almost drunkenly across the line of his jaw as he trailed kisses along her neck, fingers tangled in each other's hair. He gently pushed her down onto the bed and met her lips with amorous pleasure. She wrapped her arms around his middle, drawing him closer so she could feel his warmth encasing her.

"Love you, Cassie," he mumbled drowsily, burying her face in the nape of her neck.

"Love you too, Minho."

Her eyes started to droop, exhaustion starting to weigh heavily on her consciousness. A yawn escaped Minho's mouth as he snuggled beside her, his nose tickling her collarbone. She wondered briefly about what was going to happen to them now, a nagging premonition plaguing her thoughts.

Cassandra listened to Minho's soft breaths, his chest rising and falling in an even rhythm.

She fell asleep instantly, everything else melting into a sweet oblivion.


	50. EPILOGUS

**EPILOGUS**

* * *

 **SHE WAS VAGUELY AWARE** of consciousness creeping in to intrude on her rest. The first thing she registered was the significant lack of warmth. Her mind swirled and shifted slightly, remembering that she had fallen asleep next to Minho. Cassandra really hoped that he had just gotten up to get more food.

Her limbs felt heavy, sedated, as if she was enveloped in a thick cloud. She felt her awareness starting to recede back into that dark void of sleep, but there was something- a kind of prodding that kept nagging at the back of her mind. She realised it had been the reason that she had woken up in the first place.

It was a familiar sensation and she reached out mentally for that link, attempting to reconnect with their shared cognition. She could feel his presence, like a lingering soft embrace on her skin. Of course it would have been Thomas who forgot how to use his telepathy. He probably thought everything that they had gone through was just a dream.

" _Can you hear me?_ " his voice whispered softly.

" _You're gonna have to speak up,_ " she managed to laugh in reply.

" _What about now?"_ he tried again, gaining more confidence in his ability.

" _Honestly, Thomas, did you hit your head or something?_ "

There was a pause, and Cassandra felt her awareness seeping back to the forefront of her mind. She could smell ammonia and disinfectant, a sterile scent that seemed to wash over her olfactory sense. There was brightness on the other side of her eyelids, threatening to break through. She wriggled her toes, not remembering having put on some socks. Thomas stirred in her mind, his presence seemingly disturbed by something.

" _It's not Thomas._ "

She froze.

Disbelief coursed through her system, and she frowned deeply in confusion. She could feel her brain whirring back to life, and she noticed the marked difference immediately. It was so striking; she would have felt it instantly if she hadn't been so muddled with lethargy.

" _Cassie._ "

She tore her eyes open, ignoring the sting in her retinas at the flood of intense light that surrounded her. There was nothing, an endless arena of pure white that seemed to stretch on forever. When her sight adjusted to the change, she could make out the smooth spongy material of the floor beneath her, buttoned indentations lining its surface in large squares.

Cassandra shot upright, her back pressing into the wall as she took everything in at once. An empty white room, covered completely in padding, with a bright light high above in the ceiling. Her clothes had been changed- a plain shirt and pants that blended in with everything else.

She reached out again, felt his presence still there. Waiting.

" _Minho?!"_

He chuckled.

" _The one and only, baby._ "


	51. AUTHOR'S NOTE

AND THAT'S THE END OF BOOK 2.

Thank you so much for reading to the end, especially to the readers who have been reading this since its conception under a different name lmao. And welcome new readers ilysm omg.

I can't believe The Scorch Trials is over, with an accumulated 200,000+ words. It still amazes me that you guys have read all the chapters!

I will see you in **ELYSIUM** where everything will finally (?) be explained omg.

I AM NOT READY.

I'LL UPDATE THIS SPACE ONCE THE NEW STORY IS UP.

EXPECT A NEWT STORY SOON TOO

OK BYE xx


	52. UPDATE

**UPDATE :**

Hi guys, I'm really excited to announce that

 **BOOK III: ELYSIUM IT OUT NOW!**

I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO CHECK IT OUT! xx


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